Yes, but did you get the T-shirt?

Faro Hospital is a bit like a weekly boarding school. I was most amused that hospital patients whose treatment allows it, are permitted to go home for the weekend, and return to their same bed on Monday morning. I am not sure if this has a formal name – apart from “having days off” as it is referred to in Portuguese – but we could label it the patient sanity break. It also saves on staff and food costs, and presumably wear and tear on bed linen. The wear and tear and costs are thus neatly transferred to the vehicle of the person doing the fetching and carrying.

I shall not ever get used to the fact that fetching and carrying for someone in hospital is more work than caring for them at home even though one does not have to cook. It certainly involves, most mysteriously, more washing and ironing.  Unless, of course, the patient in question owns twenty pairs of pyjamas, ditto underwear and socks.

João was in hospital for three and a half weeks minus two of the available three weekends. They should have given her at least one T-shirt at the end of her stay that says, “Yay! I’ve finally been discharged from Faro Hospital”. On her last weekend home I recall sorting her baggage on the Sunday night. Poised for action in front of the ironing board, I asked, “Which T-shirts do you want? The Ghana, Australia, UK, England, Ireland and Lisboa?” Yes to all of them was the answer. I know. Six T-shirts for five days. You never know when you are going to spill coffee. I add two more nameless T-shirts.  I should mention that T-shirts are pyjamas in our household. It points to their versatility. Yes, T-shirts are sexy – provided you take them off. The point is that apart from Ghana and Lisboa (Lisbon), João has not been there and done that. She just got the T-shirt. It was her sister who did the travelling.

Whilst T-shirts with pictures or names of countries and cities on them are a certain amount of fun, one can derive added enjoyment when ironing, by placing a handkerchief over the transfer emblazoned on the T-shirt thus saving your iron from certain ruin and revel in the smugness of having mostly ironed two things at once.  We will not discuss the actual washing of handkerchiefs lest someone be offended.

I occasionally hear something slogan-like, or see a cartoon, that has me wishing I owned a T-shirt manufacturing company. I do not need to do that anymore apparently. For a fee, you can design your own T-shirt, and order it and pay for it online. No, it does not come to you via a chute attached to your computer. It comes in the post. Washing and ironing not included.

If I ever come into a significant amount of money, I shall ensure that I have matching baseball cap, scarf, T-shirt, sweatshirt and coffee mug with my own iron-friendly offbeat comment and cartoon on it. Why I would want a baseball cap is beyond me. Cancel the cap. I’ll take an extra T-shirt, for when the original T-shirt fades, loses shape and gets holes in odd places – and becomes an undergarment in winter.

Allison

The word in bold appeared in the previous post.