Stardate: -317861.9

At work on Thursday night, one of the residents had a rough day. It culminated in this resident going AWOL from the house. Since there was another staff member at the house, I followed the resident. As I was hustling to catch up with her, I had one of those moments of priceless inner dialogue, when I asked myself why I am doing this job, and decided that things like this are exactly the reason I do it. Because I was there, I was ready to act, and at that moment, I was the only person who could do what I did. Because when there are problems, monotony doesn't exist, and where there is no monotony, there is no boredom. Because many of life's lessons are learned in the heat of the battle, in the midst of conflict.

And, actually, we had a nice walk. A break from the house, and thankfully, the end of the tantrum that preceded the departure.

Now I go back to work again, and who knows what might happen...