I’m sorry- I really just gotta say this in response to the news that Greg Gianforte assaulted a reporter who was asking him about the CBO score that Trumpcare just received. (Oh, turns out per the Gianforte campaign, the reporter was being mean to him! And put a tape recorder up to his face! Oh, the horror!)
Listen here- I’m an ER Nurse, and I get actually abused, assaulted, and whatnot constantly. D’you know why I don’t wear a stethoscope around my neck anymore? I’ll give you a big hint- it’s not for fashion reasons. Something I learned the hard way.
But do you think I let that affect my care for the patients I have? I wrote once about how the only person that ever sneered at me they weren’t going to pay their bill was wearing a MAGA hat. It’s true, but guess what- do you think I let that affect the care he was given? Do you think I mistreated him?
No. Because if I can’t handle that sort-of pressure, and still be able to provide the best care possible to my patients, I shouldn’t be an ER Nurse. Now, nobody would ask me to do anything unsafe, if a patient was threatening me, but, c’mon now, Greg- Ben Jacobs ain’t The Rock.
Look, running for public office, you get asked hard questions. It’s called public SERVICE, not public RELAXING. It’s supposed to be tough. It’s supposed to be sacrifice. It’s supposed to be hard work. You want Montanans to possibly give you control of literally trillions of dollars, if you happen to be the deciding vote in the US House on a spending bill.
I’m running for the state legislature here in Virginia, and guess what? I’ve gotten hard questions. I’ve gotten some “gotcha!” questions. I’ve gotten called “scum” and an “I’m-With-Her Fucktard” and a “baby killer” by people who know nothing about me. But you know what? I wanted to step up and make a positive difference for my community. I decided to step into the public light. So I put myself in the crosshairs of being asked some hard questions.
It comes with the territory. If you can’t hack it, get right the frick out.
I get it- you’d literally rather bodyslam a reporter than talk about Trumpcare, because Trumpcare is a huge shiat sandwich. Trust me, I know- it’s gonna be me, alongside brothers and sisters in emergency services, who take it in the chin when you ram it through. Because, see, we don’t quit. We just burn out. And we will! You’ll dump all those people on us, those twenty-three million who’re gonna go without (at least), and y’know what we’ll do? We’ll keep working, and working, and won’t quit until we collapse, breakdown, or even commit suicide. I’ve seen each happen more times than I’d like to admit.
But what do I know? I ain’t no New Jersey millionaire. I’m just an ER Nurse.
Kellen Squire is an emergency department nurse from Barboursville, VA, running for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 58th District.