Royce Roll

She said she was disgusted, that the name was an insult..The front of her cleaning cart read "Royce Roll"...and as she steered it, one hand swollen from lymphodema...she whispered "They knew who'd push it...us. They figured it'd be the only one we'd drive, and they had the nerve to put it backwards."
She had a bilateral mastectomy, and the glove she wore on her right arm wasn't helping the swelling at all. The liquid in the bottles on the top of her cleaning cart swayed to the limp her leg had acquired from standing on her feet for 8 hours straight... as she swept under the desk, she told me that people without insurance don't get the care they would if they weren't a charity case...she told me not to believe the lie that they would. I don't. She had the same insurance for 20 years and was dropped after 16 weeks. Breast Cancer. She couldn't work, and they wouldn't cover her. She told me no one would take her because of her preexisting condition...
Seen as "the cleaning lady" with "Rite Way" ironed on to her literally blue collar button up...she was seen as unimportant. Her vacuum was a nuisance to doctors trying to dictate...but i saw strength through her pain and insurmountable pride.