It takes a very specific type of person to be able to work at an assisted living community. I am very lucky to be one of those people.

Though it is an absolute blessing, it is a curse at the exact same time.

For those who don’t know, an assisted living community is a residential facility that offers long-term care and support to help residents maintain their independence while providing the care they need.

Over the summer last year, I started working part-time as a receptionist at one of these facilities. 

The stories that my residents tell me and the experiences I have on a weekly basis are ones that truly cannot be made up.

One of a kind if you will.

If there is anything that anyone should know about working with the elderly, it is that they have absolutely no filter. It doesn’t matter who they are speaking to, they will say whatever is on their mind.

One thing for sure is, they make sure they are heard.

I remember when I first started, the newspaper was the most crucial aspect of this one lady’s life. We had the same routine. I would come in at 8 a.m. and put the newspaper in the common area. Like clockwork, my resident would come, walk right up to the table, and grab the newspaper. Except she didn’t just sit down and read it.

She stole it.

She would grab it, look around, fold it up, put it right in her purse before anyone else could read it, and walk out like nothing happened.

I guess I would call her a newspaper klepto.

Because of this, nobody ever had the chance to read the paper, and we had some avid readers too. So I had no choice but to tuck it away and bring it out when the other residents came into that area so they can read it first. Of course afterwards, it would go missing, but the effort was there to let as many of them read it as possible.

Then, the worst scenario happened.

The newspapers stopped coming.

When my resident had come over to ask for the paper and I had to break the news for her, she only had four words for me.

“You’re of no use.”

I was so shocked that all I could do was laugh. Well, inside I laughed.

What I really did was put on my best customer service voice and told her I would keep an eye out for any paper that comes my way.

That was only the beginning of these residents giving me continuous stories to tell.

As a receptionist, one of my main tasks include putting in work orders for the maintenance team when the residents have a problem with anything in their apartments.

The most common work order request I get is when a tv is not working.

There was a time when this one resident came up to me once every other week to request someone from maintenance to go fix her tv. I never thought anything of it because it was so common. So I entered it like usual. Turns out, this resident does not have a tv.

She had a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

In other words, I was putting in work orders for a non existent piece of equipment every other week.

But it existed to her.

The crazy thing is, nobody ever told me each time I entered one of these. I found out by asking a care staff woman if she knew why the tv was always not working and she there told me she never once had a tv.

That was a fun one.

Sometimes, I am convinced that working in these facilities are meant to humble workers in a way.

My most recent experience did exactly that.

I walked into one of the common areas to go grab a cup to get a drink. As I walked in, I went past one of my residents who was sitting with his family. He said hi to me like usual and I said hi back. When I was heading back to my desk, I walked past another resident and I waved to her.

But I didn’t get a response back.

Immediately, I am like why is she not saying hi back.

So, I went to her little bio that all residents have on their chart when they move in. I was thinking maybe she just isn’t social, she is selective with who she interacts with, or maybe she just isn’t ready to branch out since she recently moved in and is still settling down.

Nope.

This lady is legally blind.

I waved at a legally blind woman.

I was so embarrassed in that moment.

All I could do was sit at that desk in silence to process it.

That was the most humbling shift of my life.

There are countless stories I could tell, but these are the ones that stick with me. Every day at this job is a lesson in patience, humor, and humility.

If anything, it keeps life interesting.