I've been reading Mary Poppins to cheer myself up. It has been so long that it seems almost new to me. Jane's earache reminds me of all the earaches I had as a child. I never get them anymore, and I wonder why. Well, I can get an earache from the cold, but it will go away after the ear warms up.
An earache takes me back to an actual doctor coming by our actual house. This was called a "house call." The only time in recent years I've seen an actual "house call" was in the case of a hospice patient confined to a bed in her home. Anyway, the doctor not only prescribed some eardrops, but had them in his black bag. No really, just like in an historical drama!
At that time we had a daybed in the family room, so it was before the room was paneled and the shelving put in. The daybed was a dark red with some sort of pattern and I was probably moping on it. I was given some tangerine segments to take the taste of the eardrops away after they had slid down the eustachian tube. What a great mini-anatomy lesson that was!
Showing posts with label doctors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doctors. Show all posts
Monday, September 29, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Pinhead Rant About Pinheads
I was sitting in a waiting room today while some pinheads complained about waiting in waiting rooms. One had waited for almost 90 minutes to see a doctor for 10. Yeah? Try doing that while escorting a patient with Alzheimer's who asks you every five minutes why we're there! Tell me, who doesn't spend far too much time waiting for a doctor to only have 5 to 10 minutes actual consultation. At least he had a book with him. I always take a book when I go to the doctor or the dentist because everyone is forced to wait forever.
Then he complains that some Mexican family got 30 minutes with the doctor. Hmm, "family." That would be at least three people? Even if it comprises only three people, it would be 10 minutes per person, right? And taking into account the possible language difficulties, there would be even less actual facetime for each patient.
"Ah was bohn heyah! Lived heyah mah whole lahf! And they can be illegal and get the same kir!" Really? How do you know they're illegal? Not every foreigner in this country is here illegally. If you were a visitor in a strange land, would you want the receptionist yelling at you in the Official Language (in case you're deaf as well as stupid) that you will just have to wait until the doctor has seen all the valid citizens before you get worked in?
"Ah have insurance!" Well, if they don't, they pay a lot more than you and your insurance does. And they have to pay cash. That's at a doctor's office. In the hospital emergency room it might be another story. Something about a Hippocratic Oath.
I have a friend who is at the mercy of another country's healthcare system. They put cash machines in the hospital because non-citizens pay cash up front. Is that how we want to be?
And this conversation goes off on another tangeant about how few senators voted to make English the Official Language of the United States. Why should they? We've gone for over 200 years without needing to establish an Official Language. And what really scorches my plums is that these are the same people who got their panties in a twist when France started cracking down on all the English being used in signage. "We saved their asses in World War II," they crow (although I haven't heard anyone who actually served in the armed forces in that time period make that statement), "and this is how they treat us!" La chaussure is on l'autre pie now, eh?*
"The clerk gave me a form in Spanish!" Maybe they were all out of the ones in English. By the way, do you go on like this in front of your Spanish-speaking customers?
I hope, I really hope, that after all these centuries of back and forth that the Spanish-speakers get the upper hand and force this whole lazy lot to learn some Spanish. I want to see Spanish everywhere, and why not German? BMW has saved the upstate's ass by putting one of their plants here. And let's show that we're "better" than the Froggies and translate everything into Frog as well. What about Chinese? I've always wanted to learn Chinese.
Petty little pinheads who need something to complain about! There's food on their table, clothes on their back, a roof over their heads, all the bad tv anyone could possibly watch, and very few bombs dropping about their ears. They have no justification in complaining about anything a-tall.
* Junior senator from Georgia says, "We have a saying: 'E Pluribus Unum' -- and the Unum, unity, oneness of America should be officially the English language. It's what's going to bind us together, ... and it's, I believe, critical both economically as well as societally (sic) to have English as the official language in America." Ummm, I believe "E Pluribus Unum" is actually in Latin, thankewverymuch. It is to larf! Moi, I wish they'd translate all that crap into plain English, don't you?
Then he complains that some Mexican family got 30 minutes with the doctor. Hmm, "family." That would be at least three people? Even if it comprises only three people, it would be 10 minutes per person, right? And taking into account the possible language difficulties, there would be even less actual facetime for each patient.
"Ah was bohn heyah! Lived heyah mah whole lahf! And they can be illegal and get the same kir!" Really? How do you know they're illegal? Not every foreigner in this country is here illegally. If you were a visitor in a strange land, would you want the receptionist yelling at you in the Official Language (in case you're deaf as well as stupid) that you will just have to wait until the doctor has seen all the valid citizens before you get worked in?
"Ah have insurance!" Well, if they don't, they pay a lot more than you and your insurance does. And they have to pay cash. That's at a doctor's office. In the hospital emergency room it might be another story. Something about a Hippocratic Oath.
I have a friend who is at the mercy of another country's healthcare system. They put cash machines in the hospital because non-citizens pay cash up front. Is that how we want to be?
And this conversation goes off on another tangeant about how few senators voted to make English the Official Language of the United States. Why should they? We've gone for over 200 years without needing to establish an Official Language. And what really scorches my plums is that these are the same people who got their panties in a twist when France started cracking down on all the English being used in signage. "We saved their asses in World War II," they crow (although I haven't heard anyone who actually served in the armed forces in that time period make that statement), "and this is how they treat us!" La chaussure is on l'autre pie now, eh?*
"The clerk gave me a form in Spanish!" Maybe they were all out of the ones in English. By the way, do you go on like this in front of your Spanish-speaking customers?
I hope, I really hope, that after all these centuries of back and forth that the Spanish-speakers get the upper hand and force this whole lazy lot to learn some Spanish. I want to see Spanish everywhere, and why not German? BMW has saved the upstate's ass by putting one of their plants here. And let's show that we're "better" than the Froggies and translate everything into Frog as well. What about Chinese? I've always wanted to learn Chinese.
Petty little pinheads who need something to complain about! There's food on their table, clothes on their back, a roof over their heads, all the bad tv anyone could possibly watch, and very few bombs dropping about their ears. They have no justification in complaining about anything a-tall.
* Junior senator from Georgia says, "We have a saying: 'E Pluribus Unum' -- and the Unum, unity, oneness of America should be officially the English language. It's what's going to bind us together, ... and it's, I believe, critical both economically as well as societally (sic) to have English as the official language in America." Ummm, I believe "E Pluribus Unum" is actually in Latin, thankewverymuch. It is to larf! Moi, I wish they'd translate all that crap into plain English, don't you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
