Pursuing Privacy

I understand staff members in institutions like this need constant, easy access to residents, in case something goes wrong. I also understand family members of residents are probably comforted by knowing aides and nurses and maintenance people are regularly in and out of rooms. Having people in and out, however, can be difficult.

I often have someone come into my rooms, look around, and leave. This can happen any time through the day and on into the night. Sometimes they knock on my open door as they come in, but often they don't. It can be somebody I know, but it can also be a stranger. Most of them are in some sort of uniform, but sometimes they're not. I only assume those belong here. Once, in fact, a woman in uniform came in here, opened my closet, looked through my clothes, and left without ever saying a word to me. There's nothing in there anybody would want, so I guess it wasn't a big deal, but it was bizarre. I'm not criticizing the staff here-- most of them are very nice, and I understand they're only doing their job-- but living with that kind of uncertainty is different.

Never knowing when somebody might come in here, or who it might be, is odd. I like my privacy, and I get a lot of it here, but knowing somebody might come in at any time takes something away from that feeling of privacy. It emphasizes that this is not a home in the usual sense. In my own home, only people I knew would be in my house. No stranger would come in and go through my closet.