In the D.D. E.R.

Standing today in a spotless room stocked with vital fluids and equipment for delivering them, I had a flashback.

Just five and a half weeks ago, I spent several hours in a strangely similar room, having essential fluids dripped into my body from plastic packs hung from prongs on metal poles just like you see here.

Back then, I was a patient at the Trauma Center at UMDNJ in Newark. They did a great job. I was back on the street in 24 hours.

Today, I was a customer in a much more ubiquitous kind of emergency room--this one in Morristown--where people stand in line desperate to receive replenishing fluids. Most are back on the street within minutes. Yet, sadly, many suffer relapses and find themselves back in line within a few hours.

Tags: Newark | Morristown | UMDNJ | photography | Dunkin Donuts