You're Right, And You're Right, And You're Right Too

My mother-in-law wants to have some money, some cash lying around her nursing home room. I can actually understand this. If she wants to get something, she does not want to have to call her daughter to bring her cash. Sometimes you just want to be able to buy something. My wife has told her she has an account set up at the facility so if she want to get her hair done, or something like that, she can and does not need to have cash. Her mom still wants to have some money nearby. Even with the account set up, I can understand where my mother-in-law is coming from.

My wife has a different attitude. She says that people are told not to keep cash around in such facilities because it tends to go “walking”. My wife says even when she is in a more secure environment, like her assisted living program, she has a tendency to misplace things and then call my wife and tell her that the staff has taken these items. My wife is right, her mother does do that. My wife feels that when she misplaces the cash at the nursing home (or when someone truly does take it), she will be getting a call from her mom and it will become my wife’s problem even though there is nothing she can do. My wife feels that with the account set up, anything her mom needs, she can get. I can certainly understand where my wife is coming from.

I do not know the answer or solution. The whole situation reminds me of a scene from Fiddler on the Roof. It is what I call the “You’re Right, You’re Right and You’re Right Too scenario”. In the movie, two sides plead their case to Tevya (I don’t even remember what the case is). After hearing the first side, Tevya says, “You know, you’re right”. Upon hearing the other person plead the other side of the case, Tevya says, “You know, you’re right.” When a bystander asks, “How can they both be right?”, Tevya replies, “You know, you’re right too.”

I hear my mother-in-law’s side and I say to myself, “you know, you’re right”. I hear my wife’s side and I say to myself, “you know, your right”. I then ask myself how can they both be right and I answer by saying, “you know, you’re right too”.

I do not know the answer to the situation, I just hope something can be worked out to everyone’s satisfaction.