'I got the giggles [and] they lasted ages': Hospital staff uses dinner time to flex authority, gets put in their place by the patient's visitor aka the health minister

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Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Feb 23, 2025 9:00 AM EST

If you have ever had to endure a lengthy stay in a hospital, then you know how difficult it is to find moments of light and levity. Most of the time, if you are the patient, you are busy trying to heal your body and so is the staff. And even if you are a just a visitor, it's difficult to find moments of laughter because you are so concerned for your loved one in the hospital. That's why, when a LOLable moment arises during this time of great gravity and pain, it becomes ingrained in your memory. Heck, when I was hospitalized as a kid for three weeks, the only time I smiled was when a senior therapy dog came in to pay me a visit and I'll never forget that!

 

This story starts with a guy having an awful time in the hospital. Straight up, not having a good time! But, during his path to healing, there was a moment of levity he will never forget. Again, if you have ever been hospitalized then you know how strict they are about visiting hours. I was a child, so, I was allowed one family member at all times, but that's a different story when you're in an adult hospital… 

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  • Cheezburger Image 10470508032
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

    This guy was fine with no visitors, but he got some anyways and that was still nice. As he lay with his broken body trying to heal, it was nice to chitchat about easy stuff with a friend. However, when his visitor was there, the feeding staff came by for dinner and could not believe their eyes. They started throwing a tantrum saying that visiting hours were over and he needed to leave or they would call security! 

     

    As they were headed to the phone to call them, they were stopped and were left with their jaw wide open with the information they received like a slap in the face.

  • "This might be the ultimate 'I don't work here but...' I will ever see"

    So, I have spent 2025 nearly dying of sepsis. This isn't particularly funny but true. Therefore, this story is a tad different from those normally on here, but I hope it raises a few smiles, and writing this has kept me entertained while I deal with some considerable healing pain.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • On one particular day, I was woken up at about 11 am (I am guessing) to be told by the suddenly very wired and intense ward sister that the ward had been closed down and your visitor would appear shortly. Honestly, with all the dr is I was on, she could have told me the moon was on fire. I didn't understand what I was being told and didn't care.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • What I do remember was that they insisted I needed to be cleaned up, so I was bathed by two young, attractive nurses in nursing uniforms. This should. have been incredibly • All I remember is thinking how much it hurt and why they could not just leave me alone. I must have been really ill. At some point later, three vistors do arrive to see me. I welcomed them with the very professional and friendly 'What the are you doing here?". We must have made small talk for a while but I can't honestly say
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • This is when the food preparation person arrived. Fortunately, this interaction has stayed with me. Possibly as it was lunch, therefore the longest period between medication, or maybe due to the pure comedic value of what happened next.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • ERGY 9
    via Unsplash+ (and Jon Tyson)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The food preparation person was distinctly put out by the visitors being there and said something along the lines of "What are you doing here? This is protected time? You must get out now". My visitors were a tad perplexed and went to introduce themselves but were cut off with another ultimatum. After what felt like a long standoff but probably was no more than a handful of seconds, the food preparation person declared he would get the ward sister and call security.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • We all rather looked at each other with confusion and a certain amount of amusement, and I can only guess what happened next. What I can be sure of is that the ward sister appeared at the door, looked panicked and started running (or at least moving quickly, as I could only hear this) back down the corridor. In my head, she then rugby tackled the food preparation person who was calling security or some other help but that is purely my head cannon.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • A couple of minutes later, the food preparation person, flanked by the lead ward doctor and ward sister, returned to us. The food preparation person clearly had an idea something was going on and started into his rant about how important patients' eating schedules were and that just because someone is busy, they can't ignore visiting hours. (Again, I have surmised this, but I did hear it at least 3 other times when on the ward). He got about a sentence and a half in before one of my guests inter
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • "I apologise for interfering with dinner but this really was my only opportunity to speak to Mr OP before his next surgery". Any basic response from the food preparation person would have been sufficient but he couldn't help but put a little dig in when accepting the apology with the line. "Thank you but remember who makes the rules here" (or something along those lines, again my memory fails me here).
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • Cheezburger Image 10470520832
    via Unspalsh+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • So my guest gets up and says. "It is true that I do not work here but I am 'name' and the health minister for 'nation' so I guess I am the person who makes up the rules." Food preparation person's jaw drops open far enough that he may have been able to swallow his whole trolley. The ward nurse hit herself in the face with quite some force, and the ward doctor snorted. I got the giggles. They lasted blading ages, and it hurt like h I. I had two major chest drains and multiple broken ribs from bei
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • Unfortunately, I'm not entirely sure what happened next other than, I imagine, a considerable amount of embarrassment. However, I think this has to be one of the best 'I don't work here but' moments to ever see. A moment that has crystallised in my mind and one of the few moments of levity in a time that has really sucked.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • Just to finish, I would like to answer the obvious question - 'OP, why were you being visited by a health minister? That's weird and sounds like a lie.'. The answer to that is easy. Firstly, I am a senior part of the third (charity) sector and work in health/social care etc. so we work together on a regular basis. Secondly, we are of a similar age. When I started off as a low-level person in the sector, they were running around getting coffee for politicians as their support staff. We had drinks
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • Finally, I would like to thank every surgeon, doctor, nurse, phlebotomist, food preparation person, cleaner, porter and anyone else I have missed for saving my life across the multiple hospitals I had to inhabit to get fixed. I know this is going into the ether, and maybe no one will read it, but I hope the good vibes reach them all and they have a good day.
    via WanderedOffConfused
  • Cheezburger Image 10470522880
    via Unsplash+ (and Curated Lifestyle)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • xelle24 Wow. I hope you heal quickly and thoroughly, I hope you have a long and healthy life from here on out, I hope no one interrupts your meals in future, and I hope no one else induces painful giggles while you're healing. Also, I'm impressed with the quality of your writing while in this impressively extreme state of recovery. You sound like me when I'm ill. A little too formal, a little whimsical, and a lot more words than most others (who are not me and you) would think necessary.
    via xelle24
  • westcoastsunflower Reminds me of the time I visited a friend in the hospital who had gone in for an emergency appendectomy. I was never comfortable in hospitals and therefore nervous. When I'm nervous, I giggle. I guess it was contagious because the patient started giggling too and neither of us could stop. He ended up bl ding and leaking through his incision. Still funny He survived just fine. I hope you make a full recovery. Those hospital dr are pretty amazing eh? S
    via westcoastsunflower
  • BethKnowsBetter I am so sorry you are recovering from this awful thing 8-1 watched my mother do this in 2020 (she's ok. I know you will be. *gentle air hug). BUT the real purpose of this is to tell you I spit out my tea laughing so hard. I'm laughing because I know you couldn't stop laughing and it hurt and that's awful but That's hilarious and an amazing mic drop. I think you win.
    via BethKnowsBetter

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