#ATOZCHALLENGE: T IS FOR 24 HOURS IN THE ER

let's get intimate you and i. this busy society doesn't allow for it so let's be rebels. this show, and Jane and the Dragon, were why i took up this challenge. if nothing else, if i could highlight these two shows i would have done my job. one animated, one as real-life as it gets. there's documentary and then there's straight-up hardcore reality. like no flourishes, no touches, just leave the camera on the waiting desk and watch the carnage get mended.

this flew into my life when i was at a crossroads. it allowed me to relax, take in the quiet moments between life and death, and realize all my shit was first-world problems. there's always someone who has it much worse. it's impossible to escape your own skin so you keep forgetting that. i'm always so jumpity. Novemberish if i recall so i was armed with something interesting to discuss come Thanksgiving Table time, which is one less thing to stress about.

no frills, no fuss, just the brilliant work of the emergency-room staff at a local London hospital. not censored, not photoshopped, no special effects or maudlin music, patients in their real lives barging through those King's College doors with bloody trauma and the dedicated English angels of mercy who fix them as best they can. not all problems have physical solutions and some require follow-up psychological help, but you know what they say about the doctor and lawyer jokes drying up a pub when you need a doctor or lawyer.

some shows are in the vein of other shows. which can be like a drug. but familiarity breeds contempt and soon those same shows boil your blood. some do neither, like Sand Whale and Me. figured GITS and video games, so why not, eh? what a bland disappointment, unless you really like World Peas. some shows get into your veins and stay there. and then there's this tv programme which is ABOUT veins. thank you BBC America, this almost makes up for Sarah Jane.

so of course i'm partial to all things British. this show combines the greatest show of all time, ER, pronounced "er", and places proper English accents into the tongues of the staff. instant credibility. i would immediately trust my doctor more if she spoke with a British accent. i would chew acid if she told me to.

two beautiful nurses are highlighted throughout the short run of the series. i think it was but 6 episodes, it went by way too fast. this was one instance i didn't want them to do the double-booked two-hour series finale thing at the end of the last week. spread it out more. i know it's all a game and mindtrick but my wet brain will do anything to stave off boredom. the fact that orientation or eyebrow rings or blonde hair don't figure into their clinical descriptions says something profound. these are the people you chance to receive when you go into this room and give your sob story about that cut in your body that's serious. not a people person? you are now, nice to meetcha.

the compassion and warmth cuts through the dank atmosphere which is night and willowy and full of dread and doom, waiting for the next medicated sock to drop, preparing for the worst, realizing there are only a few steps to death. the entrance-corridor light shines in the darkness welcoming in motorcycle crashes and sparking industrial accidents. the indoor-corridor lights shine a light on the drugs and swabs and tongue depressors to keep you from getting more depressed. as Robert Romano once famously said about hospital drugs, "we got the good stuff upstairs."

maybe i should switch to good drugs. anyway, that's besides the point. scared of a little prick? well it's harder to keep from becoming a prick. the "customers" are always right and self-righteous about their injuries and the nursing staff always has to maintain a decorous equanimity and try to figure out how to nip it in the bud. how many times had they wanted to turn off the machine after being called a unsolicitous slag. all the demeaning unsolicited comments. but they never did.

we get treated to a construction beam that has now effectively become a working-stiff bloke's leg. no amount of helmet can change that. awkward first dates where the bird has to carry the bloke over her shoulder after he's had too much to drink after the rejection. and the old ladies, those are the worst. you know they're gonna die. i remember the one family with the chubby kid and him going on about how he never really knew his grandpa until the accident, and how he wanted to spend the rest of his life getting to know his gramp, trade fishing cards with him and take him out on bike dates by the lake. and then of course the grandpa dies the next day.

you never know when in your life you're gonna need a gurney or stretcher. you should make one out of wet straw and keep it handy in your closet. or unhinge a bathroom door like they did on Bob's Burgers. you need some air? don't swim. are X rays dangerous? yep. your blood pressure's poppin'? eat less chicken. i know, that black bubble is fun to squeeze. it's a black balloon but it's not heroin. you like wearing hospital gowns? you must love your butt. your tummy aches? eat less chicken. chicken make better pets than poultry.

you want a stethoscope up your arse? don't answer that.

oh that white sheet. when it's under you it's comforting but when it's over you you have officially lost your sense of smell. and now a process secret: this is the first time since i started this challenge i DIDN'T look at the wikipedia list of shows BEFORE i wrote the post. i knew what my T would be. i speedily scrolled through the T list AFTER i posted just for fun *cheeky smileyface emoji*

you need help? you need help with your life? the action starts when a call comes in to that famous Red Phone. that ain't a Batphone, this is real shit. shit just got real.

i wish they would make more.

there are no atheists in a foxhole. and no labels in the trenches of an ER. just capable human hands.

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HERE'S YOUR SECOND PILL

there is nothing creepier than a hospital chapel.

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