Neglect

I haven't been very good about posting on here. Which is about to change.

While driving home from work yesterday I was remembering a story from a few winters back here at UIC hospital, the memory made me laugh the entire drive home.

It was winter time a few years back. One of my attendings, Dr. C, had parked his car, an SUV of some type, out front of the hospital. He got into the car he started to drive down Damen towards the highway. The car smelled a little funny, but Dr. C did not think much of it. Then he looked in the rear view mirror and a homeless man sat up in the back seat. Dr. C asked the man what he was doing in his car! The man said, "It was cold outside so he came in to keep warm." Then the homeless man said "Sorry, I ate your sandwich." Sure enough, his packed lunch had been eaten! The man then proceded to ask Dr C. to drive him to a specific homeless shelter/church a mile or two away. AND HE DID! When he told me this story, I asked Dr. C, "How did that guy get in?" Dr C. said, "Oh, I left the car unlocked."

Amazingly this is not the first story in my 5 years at UIC of a doctor finding someone in their car. Another time one of my liver patients absconded from the hospital and slept in a Psychiatry resident's car in the parking garage. The car was, once again, unlocked.

Learning point: Lock your car.