Title: Chicken Soup
A little old jewish lady was doddering up 5th Avenue in New York and saw a man run over by a taxicab.
As a crowd of rubberneckers gathered around him while they waited for the EMS to arrive, she called out in her yiddish accent, “Give ‘im chicken soup.”
Soon the EMS arrived and began to attend the man, and from the back of the crowd, she called out, “Give ‘im chicken soup.” But they ignored her.
The EMS technicians started an IV in his arm and began to try to stabilize him, but things did not go well.
“Give ‘im chicken soup.” the little lady cried, but people in the crowd scowled at her in consternation, and the EMS techs ignored her and kept on working.
Then the poor man went into cardiac arrest and the EMS guys took out he electric shock paddles and gave him a big jolt to try to restart his heart. It didn’t work and as they repeated it, the little old lady cried “Give ‘im chicken soup.”
Finally, the man died and the EMS guys loaded the body on a stretcher and put him in the back of the truck and climbed inside.
As they were about to close the door, the little lady shrieked, “Give ‘im chicken soup.”
“Lady,” the EMS tech screamed back at her in frustration, “This man is dead, chicken soup can’t help him!”
“Well,” she replied in her yiddish accent, “It couldn’t hurt him, either.”
WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME:
Some things in Life are called “useless” by others.
But they can’t hurt, either.
Robert Jorrie,
1991