First week back - some thoughts
Whew, three months away and I almost forgot where we left off. Incidentally, the vacuum left by the absence of Doctors was filled for me with another medical soap, NZ's very own Shortland Street, so I didn't find myself pining so much for the goings on at The Mill as much as I thought I would. But I'm still glad it's returned.
Emma is still like a bear with a sore head after her role in the sad death of baby Nicolas. I'm not surprised Sid is giving her a wide berth, she's ripped the head off everyone else who has dared try to mollify her tortured soul. Somebody buy the woman a ticket to see her son, Chris in Oz, again, pronto!
Zara, meanwhile, has her work cut out with her mother-in-law, Marion - a woman who seems to get off on dressing her son's partner in 1950's garb, criticising her every move, and also, rather worryingly, force-feeding her grandson Joe in the manner of a fois gras goose. I swear in all their scenes together, she's shoving one type of junk food or another into the hapless lad's mouth. Feeder Granny needs to be turfed out on her ear unless Daniel and Zara can handle having Augustus Gloop for a son.
Karen and Rob have been to-ing and fro-ing about becoming foster parents, and finally decided to give it a go - I imagine whoever they are given as their first charge, it won't be plain-sailing for them over the next few months. Hopefully they'll step up to the plate, fully prepared and ready for a challenge.
Lastly, I want to mention Mrs Tembe.... and Valerie. Some of you on here know I've been one of the few who has tolerated, and mostly quite liked chatterbox Val. Lately, I think I have done a full 360 degree turn on her - especially this last week when she's been nothing but beastly towards the well-meaning Mrs T. Actually, I've noticed the pure disdain Valerie has harboured for Mrs Tembe since the latter became the Practice Manager. She seems to lack any kind of respect for her and it's really, REALLY bugging me!
I can't imagine Valerie would have stomped around like a toddler in a tantrum if any other Mill PM told her that she can no longer be employed by them without financial loss to the practice. Would she have thrown a moody towards Howard? Nope, unlikely. Certainly not Anthony, she won't hear a word against him, despite him being exposed as a crook and a bounder. Heck, I doubt she would even have given Julia the evils. Valerie doesn't seem to think Mrs Tembe is worth her respect, I suspect because she still sees her as a fellow receptionist. Unbelievable!
I know Valerie had a lot on her plate with the cancer, and she beat it admirably. She thought that now, at last, she could get on with her life without the Grim Reaper's scythe hanging over her. Totally understandable. However, in my opinion, her lack of dignity in dealing with her potential loss of a position at The Mill makes her appear extremely entitled. Mrs T has agonised over the decision and been as fair as she could, under the circumstances. Valerie has been rude and discourteous in return. Her unprofessional attitude is seriously irking me! I want to see Mrs Tembe kick Val's arse right out of the health centre, tell her to grow the frig up and look for another job, and if people like Heston and Karen are sooo keen on keeping her on, maybe THEY should pay the extortionate agency fees out of their own pockets.
Winnie for the win!!