I found this quote from a 2014 @Rose_Queen ::wavey:: post, but it bespeaks an older origin. Many familiar names if you go searching around using the bug search window. Be sure to check the box for “all terms” in your returns, or you’ll drown in unrelated stuff.
“The self-proclaimed crusty old bats are some of the posters I have learned the most from here at allnurses. And it may help to know the back story of the crusty old bat phrase- it came about after a newbie showed up, showing an attitude of extreme entitlement, and used it in a derogatory manner. Rather than get offended, us crusty old bats and future crusty old bats claimed the phrase and turnED it into an inside joke.”
Likewise, the term “old biter nurses” was a likely typo for “bitter,” but we embraced it in its absurdity and peripheral connection to NETY, “nurses eat their young.” Which we don’t, because somehow we survived our callow years of being corrected and now, older and wiser as the old ones before us were, are living proof of not having been eaten in the process and now seek only to make current newbies too tough to chew on.
This blast from the past is brought to you by …. well, you know.
Do we even get as many posts anymore from entitled newbies taking us to task? I must admit I got a perverse charge watching the bat-a-ball game that ensued. I totally embrace crusty old bathood.
I came back on here after being away for a while. Saw some posts I made from like, 2018 that had reactions. Started looking in the "What's New" category. Same posts from 2018...people still arguing over the same crap. Probably why I left. Not many new posts except...I got into ******* program, or waiting for ******* program to call me.
I'm a long time off from being a COB, but I've always appreciated their insight. Whether it's correct or not is another story. I've been on the receiving end enough to know that more often than not, COBs aren't just *****ing at you to be b****ing, it's because you messed up and you need to know why/how. I've read that we're more likely to remember bad than good. Without knowing it our COBs help us remember through stern or maybe harsh encounters. I'm grateful for the times I catch the COB filleting a new nurse for the same issue I had with them last week. I hear the new nurse complain about the COB, but they aren't messing up again.
Thank you COB. Your work is unappreciated, but there are those of us that are grateful you are willing to be "the bad guy" for the good of our profession and facilities.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
2 hours ago, Hannahbanana said:
association is not causation
A fallacy in logic.
Some time ago, there was an article on an elderly couple that committed suicide. Unpaid medical bills were found, and the premise of the article was that the suicide was possibly triggered by the couple's inability to pay them.
A tragic story and an eye-catching article title which drew readers.
2 hours ago, Hannahbanana said:
the mashed potato theory of homicide, which notes that the vast majority of murderers in the US have consumed mashed potatoes before killing somebody.
Had someone found a dirty kitty litter box, perhaps the premise of the article on the suicide would have a different causation?
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
“The self-proclaimed crusty old bats are some of the posters I have learned the most from here at allnurses. And it may help to know the back story of the crusty old bat phrase- it came about after a newbie showed up, showing an attitude of extreme entitlement, and used it in a derogatory manner. Rather than get offended, us crusty old bats and future crusty old bats claimed the phrase and turnED it into an inside joke.”
This is me to a "tee"! almost 25 years an RN. I've seen more than I ever wanted to. I am crusty, old, and experienced. My intuition is usually spot-on but I am getting tired.
Feelgood RN
92 Posts
I came back on here after being away for a while. Saw some posts I made from like, 2018 that had reactions. Started looking in the "What's New" category. Same posts from 2018...people still arguing over the same crap. Probably why I left. Not many new posts except...I got into ******* program, or waiting for ******* program to call me.
I'm a long time off from being a COB, but I've always appreciated their insight. Whether it's correct or not is another story. I've been on the receiving end enough to know that more often than not, COBs aren't just *****ing at you to be b****ing, it's because you messed up and you need to know why/how. I've read that we're more likely to remember bad than good. Without knowing it our COBs help us remember through stern or maybe harsh encounters. I'm grateful for the times I catch the COB filleting a new nurse for the same issue I had with them last week. I hear the new nurse complain about the COB, but they aren't messing up again.
Thank you COB. Your work is unappreciated, but there are those of us that are grateful you are willing to be "the bad guy" for the good of our profession and facilities.