Bingo

It's true: old people LOVE bingo. Yesterday, Martha and I went to St. John's Nursing Home and chilled with the residents. It was pretty cool. First, we learned how to work the bingo ball-machine thing, then the reward process, and how to transport the residents. The scariest thing was transporting them from their rooms to the dining area where the games were being held. I pushed their wheelchairs REALLY slowly and tried as hard as possible to not hurt them, but of course there were a few bumped feet or banged up knees :( There was this one woman who I helped and she just made the experience a memorable one. She was very confused about the whole bingo process and so I pulled up a chair and sat next to her. I would point out the number if she had it and then she would put her chip on that number--we made a pretty good team. After many rounds without winning she began to give up. I felt really bad and I encouraged her to keep playing, that she'll get lucky in the next round. The whole time I was telling her this I just kept thinking "PLEASE, just let her WIN!!!"....She never won :( While we were waiting for our ride, one of the residents came up to us and said "You be sure to come back now, I really enjoyed your company". It felt really good that they liked that we were there. I definitely plan on making regular visits.