As a nurse, in the hospital setting one must perform a neurological assessment on a patient. The famous question," Do you know what year it is?",frustrated my patient. Life on 2-4unit was about to change and would never be the same. My patient had surgery on his caroid arteries which required me to check his neuro's every hour on the hour. We'll call the patient JOE. Joe would not smile or open his eyes for about 7 hours, he would answer( the) question with disgust each time. Finally, I said,"Joe, If you don't open your eyes and smile at me before my shift ends, when I go home, you'll never know how much I look like Marilyn Monroe!" Well, I'm a burnette! But Joe opened his eyes for the first time and with a big laugh, he sacastically stated,"you don't look any thing like Marilyn Monroe!" I told him that up until now I thought the only thing he knew was "what year it is". I proceeded to pick on Joe and tell him that he didn't look like Frank Sinatra, either! We laughed and our friendship grew from that moment. His daughter inlaw is now one of my best friends! All of this , from asking what year it is!!!!