There is a young man employed by the hospital in which I work who appears have a condition that most refer to as “Down’s syndrome". This man is a delightful chap whose sole job is (as far as I am aware) to fill the Purell dispensers. In a hospital of approximately 250 beds this is no small chore. The way that this works for him is diagrams of where the dispensers are located. He can often be found in the hallways with his little cart looking at his diagrams and locating every dispenser in the area. All in all, he is quite good at what he does as long as the dispensers are on the diagrams.
One of the delightful traits of most people with Down’s syndrome is that they tend to be jovial and get great amusement out of the smallest things. When I started working in the neonatal intensive care unit I noticed that the young man would sometimes peek into the glass doors to get a better look at our tiny patients. While I was at work the other day standing by my patient’s room and stringing IV tubing the young man walked by the room to check the dispenser. He carefully added Purell and then peeked his head into the slightly open door. His entire face lit up in awe and fascination at the four pound bundle in the crib. Unable to contain himself he clapped his hands together and exclaimed:
“Baby!”
He flashed me a sheepish grin before continuing on his way. This little moment made my day.