Can't win...

[Rachel]

I'm a nurse working in a retirement home, night shifts. That can be very straining and once in a while it's very sad. But sometimes it is positively surreal, and situations occur that make you grin despite yourself. The other day I had a dialogue with a very old and very ill resident who died a few days later. I'm writing it down not to be disrespectful but as a way to remember him by. In my job you tent to forget those who have gone rather quickly and focus on the ones who are still there.

I'm writing down the original dialogue since it actually was in German, the translation would be awkward anyway.

Sehr kranker alter Mann: 'Wie spät ist es?'
Ich: 'Zwanzig vor drei.'
Er (ärgerlich): 'Ich will nicht wissen wie spät es ist, ich habe Sie gefragt wie spät es ist!'
Ich: *grübel* 'Möchten Sie gerne von mir die Uhrzeit erfahren?'
Er: 'Ach, lassen Sie mich in Ruhe!'