Today we spent some time in a hospital surgical waiting room. There, you of course, see all walks of life: The wealthy, the poor, the in-between, the yuppies, the type of people who have knock-down drag-out fights on The Jerry Springer Show, and there is also the no category type: me.
After we found seats and got ourselves situated I studied the system. There was a room off to the side. A doctor would call a family over and invite them in and the doctor would tell them how the operation went.
And so it went with a foreign doctor and his assistant which may have been a nurse or another doctor.. They called for the family of So&So and about 6 to 10 people materialized. They looked to be uninhibited and not the types to hide their emotions, whether it is fear, hate, or love.
The doctor looked overwhelmed at the number of people that came before him. He had an accent. He said he could only take the immediately family into the room. By the way the family members were acting, I think they were all immediate family. Finally a few were allowed into the room and the door was shut.
Almost immediately after the door was shut, the door flung opened and a young man leaped out and said, “SHE IS DEAD!!!” And other family members standing around started wailing and screaming the same thing. I think a few of them ran out into the main corridor, which the hospital calls Main Street, screaming SHE IS DEAD!!! And the other family members were visually and verbally upset as well.
A few minutes later a hospital official was standing beside a security guard trying to explain in sequence of events that led to such an emotional outbreak that surely disrupted a lot of things going on in the hospital.
So much for the doctor trying to keep everything quiet and under controll.
And that is what I like about these people. They are freer than the average ass-kisser I think.
Why was she having surgery that caused her to die on the operating table? She was shot.
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We also had a very nice conversation with a very sweet nurse. She had a thick New Orleans accent. Not only was she sweet she was generous. She has two daughters already, and one of her friends was suffering an illness and was backing down from having children of their own when the nurse said use her body. Put the eggs in her oven and she would take care of them. I think she said it to her friend without hesitation. Her friend was too old to be chasing young kids around and decided no to.
The nurse was in the Air Force where she met her future husband. They were stationed in Japan and got to see Germany and other places in the world. They are in Marietta because of Lockheed.
She loves New Orleans based music and Anna and I now are racking our brains trying to remember some of the music makers she recommended.. Dave somebody,
She loves spicy food and carries a bottle of hot sauce every time she leaves her house. I asked her where a good Cajun place to eat around here is and she said, “My house!” I have no doubt if we pursued that, we would have her address and a date to show up, I think she is that sincere and generous.
Later she and a doctor, also from New Orleans, discussed good Cajun food. I think they both agreed that Henry's in Acworth and Gumbeaux- in Douglasville are good Cajun eateries.**
*I am sure there are some good polite foreign doctors with great bedside manners in this area, I just haven't been exposed to them.
**Not that it matters, but I just recalled, both restaurants in are on the main street in their town, facing the railroad tracks.
2 comments:
Woo. I have many thoughts on your post today. I might have to email you a nice long page on foreign doctors. We had one doctor who got angry when he was asked to repeat what he said. His accent wasn't that heavy. He tended to mumble. I was the only one brave enough to say, "Doctor! Speak up! You KNOW I don't hear well."
My thoughts on emotions are that some older men become emotional and some older women become hardened. That is what has happened to us and some of our friends. Shattering life experiences have a lot to do with it.
Upon my retirement from the Navy I was employed for many years at my hometown hospital. During this time I observed that black people were very emotional and highly vocal upon the death of a loved one. Often to the extend that security had to be called to maintain order. Breaking furniture and ripping doors from their hinges was very common. Other families rarely showed their emotions in a similar manner.
As far a foreign doctors go, all of mine are non-white and I am happy to have them. Believe it or not, but Americans doctors are not always the best trained anymore. Again, when I worked in health care some of our doctors on staff had trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. And let's never discuss their personal habits which you get to know in a samll town.
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