I was over at the nursing home yesterday afternoon. Kathryn now likes to sit in the large area by the nurse station. At that particular time, it was festooned with helium balloons in red, white and blue; one of the residents inquired about them and I said I thought it was because it was Martin Luther King Day.

No. I was wrong. One of the staff members said it was because a car was being given away that day – in just a few minutes, actually. A car? Yes. The corporation with which the facility is associated was giving away something like five cars, one at each of the affiliated nursing homes that had a two year safety record. Okay. A car.

To be eligible to win, you had to have worked at the home at least 18 months and have had no “lost time” for two years. Yes, that sentence is confusing to me as well. (I would hope the “lost time” refers to unexcused time off. I mean, I would hate to think of sick aides coming in to keep their hopes of a car alive.)

So, one of the head honchos comes in, remarking on how happy he is to be giving away a car. And that’s what he does; he gives the car to an employee, whose name was picked ahead of time to allow for titling and whatever.

One winner among all those workers – nurses, aides, housekeepers and administration personnel. Only the “all those” wasn’t such a big number that the winner was one in a crowd. Those not picked were very gracious and work went on as usual. Meanwhile, I’m sitting there thinking, “Boy, so and so just won a car! and these other people didn’t. I’m not certain this was the best morale booster the corporation could come up with.