training in gotham

holy shit on a stick, son
i got some travel in the past two days, boy
bout time, too
i was kinda sick of sitting in that office all day

first, on wednesday, [the 10th],
i got to go up to columbia presbyterian for the afternoon
i finally managed to get some field work!
i met up with an organizer named bennet,
and we both went to a grievance hearing with the psych dep't
[fun fact:
this was the delegate's first ever grievance hearing
since she just completed delegate training last month
talk about excitement, eh?]
after the hearing, he showed me around the facility
i got to see the school of dentistry,
school of optometry,
part of the psychiatric care ward
the old and new psych buildings
and the tiny little office the union works out of
AND THEN
after we finished the tour and did some paperwork,
i got to sit in on their jobs committee meeting
being out in the field was much better than i anticipated
i wasn't expecting it to really be my thing,
but damn did i enjoy it
i'll be heading back up there sometime after thanksgiving
and i can't wait

then, yesterday,
i went out to hicksville
[yes, there is a hicksville in new york
hell of a name for a place that isn't a backward–ass hooverville]
anyway, me and ramón went out there to long island jewish medical center
apparently they're trying to develop a delegate training curriculum
and they wanted to incorporate the labor–management project
so me, my mentor, and the other intern's mentor went out
we had some meetings, got some bagels,
and generally had a productive time
AND, because i am respectfully critical and insightful,
managed to give my two cents about the matter
and not come off like a giant douchebag
[apparently they were somewhat impressed with my assessment,
since they told ramón that after we were done]
so i actually attended a meeting that didn't bore me to tears
and i got a free round trip on the lirr
it was a good end of the week for me
add on the fact that i didn't have to go to class today,
and it was a damn good week for this guy right here

this week is supposed to be heralding what's to come down the stretch
ramón really wants me to get involved in some of the department's projects
so i'll be sitting in on a few more meetings
[which, believe me, is thrilling]
and handling more of the substantive work
along with going out in the field
and meeting some of the higher ups in the union

damn, did i get me a good internship or what?