There are two kinds of people I meet through my day. Doctors and patients. Rather, healthcare workers like us who administer care and those who receive this care. Being married to a doctor, this universe extends even at home. This would happen in all professions when you work long enough, one would think. But doctors have it different.
In a reunion of schoolmates, I became painfully aware of the fact that I was sticking out like a sore thumb.Unlike my loquacious self, I was tongue tied and looking around desperately to join a conversation.I realized that my sense of humor was full of medical terminologies which the layperson could not 'get' and most of our funny anecdotes about idiosyncrasies around our jobs fell flat in a mixed gathering. Meanwhile a patient called me to inform that she had started her periods and as I was talking to her in one corner of the party about how many pads she was soaking today, I turned around to find a classmate aghast and shocked. So, I stood, nursing my Coke, till I was saved. Three of my classmates purposefully strode to my corner and started asking me about their 'gynec problems'. They appeared God send to me. I recovered my lost confidence and launched into a detailed treatise of how they should prevent and treat these problems. Rest of the party went smoothly as I advised anyone and everyone about their medical ills, real and imagined.
Another such opportunity presented itself soon. I was invited to a dinner by a neighbor. The other invitees were not doctors. I felt that knot in my tummy as the D day approached. I thought of declining ( doctors have the luxury of emergencies which can come up last minute). Then I prayed that someone would have some medical query which I could address and bid my time.
Strangely, the three hours passed quickly and effortlessly. There was hardly any discussion on medicine, but I found myself drawn into conversations. It was a refreshing change to talk to intelligent achievers, administrators and homemakers. We made small talk, but conversation flowed effortlessly and easily. And, at the end of it, I wished I knew each of them a little more, a little better.
It is easy to get caught in our web of diseases and maladies. Easy to restrict ourselves socially to our own kind. But it is refreshing to see the world sometimes from undiseased eyes.
People unlike us, sometimes are eminently likeable.
In a reunion of schoolmates, I became painfully aware of the fact that I was sticking out like a sore thumb.Unlike my loquacious self, I was tongue tied and looking around desperately to join a conversation.I realized that my sense of humor was full of medical terminologies which the layperson could not 'get' and most of our funny anecdotes about idiosyncrasies around our jobs fell flat in a mixed gathering. Meanwhile a patient called me to inform that she had started her periods and as I was talking to her in one corner of the party about how many pads she was soaking today, I turned around to find a classmate aghast and shocked. So, I stood, nursing my Coke, till I was saved. Three of my classmates purposefully strode to my corner and started asking me about their 'gynec problems'. They appeared God send to me. I recovered my lost confidence and launched into a detailed treatise of how they should prevent and treat these problems. Rest of the party went smoothly as I advised anyone and everyone about their medical ills, real and imagined.
Another such opportunity presented itself soon. I was invited to a dinner by a neighbor. The other invitees were not doctors. I felt that knot in my tummy as the D day approached. I thought of declining ( doctors have the luxury of emergencies which can come up last minute). Then I prayed that someone would have some medical query which I could address and bid my time.
Strangely, the three hours passed quickly and effortlessly. There was hardly any discussion on medicine, but I found myself drawn into conversations. It was a refreshing change to talk to intelligent achievers, administrators and homemakers. We made small talk, but conversation flowed effortlessly and easily. And, at the end of it, I wished I knew each of them a little more, a little better.
It is easy to get caught in our web of diseases and maladies. Easy to restrict ourselves socially to our own kind. But it is refreshing to see the world sometimes from undiseased eyes.
People unlike us, sometimes are eminently likeable.
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