Reuford, NY (Reuters) – On Thursday, a powerful stress bomb injured sixteen people working at the Happy Tails Veterinary Hospital in Reuford, NY.
Carol Bugelmeyer, a technician working at the hospital, said that nearly everyone on the team suffered injury from the explosion. She added that several pets were injured as well including two nervous dogs, and a longhaired hospital cat named Glamor Puss.
Day Starts Out Quietly
According to Bugelmeyer, a senior employee, the morning of the explosion was relatively uneventful.
“We were all just doing our jobs,” said Bugelmeyer. “Hectic as usual, but we’re used to that. Then Judith came in…she’s our practice manager…and she just dropped this enormous stress bomb on us. We were completely taken by surprise.”
History of Bombing
A receptionist at the practice, Darlene Wooten, corroborated the story. From her living room sofa, recovering with an ice pack on her head, Wooten said that this was not a first for the suspect.
“She’s out of her f&^’n mind is what she is,” said Wooten. “She needs help! Everything is going along fine, then something happens to freak her out…I mean it could be anything…someone forgets to clock out, someone forgets to put the bloods in the pick up box, her husband, the owner, freaks out on her…that’s mostly the reason…and then she walks in the room and drops this enormous stress bomb on us. It just blows up the whole day.”
Assistant Give Firsthand Account
Kennel worker, Alison Montgomery, was there when the bomb exploded and described the scene.
“We were laughing. We were actually having a great time. I was cleaning cages. Emily Marzipan was holding for Dr. Abercroff. Susan Lagooni was trying to fix something on the LaserCyte. Then out of the blue, Judith walks in and she goes, ‘Are you people deaf! Am I the only one that hears the phones ringing off the hook?’ She does this with her hip sticking out and her hand on it.” Montgomery demonstrated the stance.
Wooten confirmed the accuracy of Montgomery’s account, “Of course we had heard the phones ringing off the hook, but they’ve been ringing off the hook since March of 2020, so frankly no one noticed,” exclaimed Wooten tearing the iceback off her head. “Dr. Abercroff said as much and then Jude…or ‘Tude as we call her, really blew.
“The ‘Tude was like, ‘Didn’t notice them? Didn’t notice them?! It sounds like the G.D. bells of Saint Mary’s out there! How could you not notice them? You people need to understand something and understand it good. Those phones equal paychecks. Your paychecks.’ Or it was something like that. The ‘Tude was like, ‘When those phones ring, that’s my money trying to get in the door and when you people choose to sit back here and screw around instead of helping out with the phones, then I’m not getting paid and that means you’re not getting paid. Capiche?!’ It was along those lines.”
After huffing out a deep breath of air and a moment more of reflection, Wooten added, “You know, we all know she’s nuts. We figured that out years ago. We’ve even forgiven her, because when she’s normal, the ‘Tude, I mean Judith, can be actually pretty cool. But man, when she drops her stress bombs. Forget it. It’s why morale is often so low and why we can’t hold onto people for shi…why we can’t hold onto people.”
Advisor Called On the Scene
Practice advisor Bash Halow, CVPM, LVT, was called onto the scene and asked to help with the clean up.
Said Halow, “I’m not going to sugar coat it. It’s bad. Unfortunately I’ve seen worse. Stress bombs are probably one of the biggest threats to veterinary practice teams. You have these people in practices, usually the owner or manager, but it can be anyone really, they are like that villain in that Disney Movie, the Incredibles, Bomb Voyage. They just drop these stress bombs everywhere they go. These people can be sweet as pie when they’re not agitated, but get them hopped up about something and the only way they feel they can shed their anxiety is to blow it out on the others around them. Ironically, it has the opposite effect. It’s the equivalent of trying to describe how bad your leg hurts by kicking everyone else in the leg. It doesn’t work. In the end, everyone just ends up with a hurt leg.
Happy April Fool’s everybody!
Though the above bomb story is an April 1st gag, stress bombers are all too real. Halow is currently doing virtual team education on how to communicate nicely during these stressful times. Reach out for more information. It may be possible to have your team’s education fully funded!
