Report of 5 Aug '07
Hello from the Carmel library -
It's nice to be here; public libraries are such lovely entities.
The week has been nice. Lots of nice patients, mingled w/ the occasional ungrateful sort. That's a lot better than lots of ungrateful sorts, mingled w/ the occasional nice one, isn't it. The most memorable to me was a 17 yo in w/ poison ivy. In the course of the conversation, it came out that she was a ward of the state, her mother was a drug addict, her father dead, she was working for her high-school equivalency certificate (the GED), and had a baby about to turn 4. I looked at this cheerful teenager, 1 year older than my older son - whose interests are the bass guitar, basketball, his earring and getting looks from the occasional girl - and here she was studying for her GED, working full-time, visiting her baby in the custody of its paternal grandmother. I wish this young woman very well. I must feel grateful for the social taboos in India, which preclude unmarried parenthood, intimacy before marriage, etc. Not that these things do not happen there, but they come w/ such social ostracism that not too many indulge *overtly*. Otherwise, the same thing would be happening there - absentee/imprisoned fathers, rampant STD's, a whole generation of children growing up w/o a solid family unit in place. As it is in India, we have to deal w/ endemic domestic violence, a hateful caste system, old-fashioned beliefs about the status of women and abundant hypocrisy - it is nice to not have to deal w/ those other ills, in addition.
The state of the society here does intrigue me off and on. I don't have issues w/ young women coming into my exam room, having had 3 children by 3 different fathers, and can generally adapt to the mores here. However, I wonder at some things: there is apparently a cable TV show called "Hot ghetto mess," which is attracting quite a following. I saw a preview, and it showed 2 young Black women in a physical fight, tearing each other's clothes off. Is this place so depraved that one gets satisfaction in someone else's fights and misfortunes? What on earth does it do to one's psyche when one watches endless garbage such as this? I used to consider lack of TV akin to hippie-hood, but must admit to loving its absence and watching my sons read, enter into insightful conversations w/ us, and start taking life decisions based on inspirations from books. Would they enjoy watching half-naked women batter each other? Perhaps, but they won't get a chance for now.
The food poisoning persists, but is better. I spent the weekend w/ my in-laws and that must have helped. They were baling hay w/ some young blood help, and I caught up w/ my sister-in-law, Diane, and her cousins. It was fun. My upper body strength is pitiful, so I did not heave and heft bales, however did partake of the post-labor meal. As always, there was plenty of laughter - most therapeutic.
The 3 Weiss men continue to send lovely notes, and Scott's was great: I'd told him about a patient coming in about 15 minutes before closing, she stated she'd been there an hour, and had apparently been missed by the front office staff. My services tend to get taken for granted a bit at this clinic, and I was asked if I'd see her; I did see her - it's not great patient relations not to - and told Scott of this experience. His missive, that it was nice that some doctors put patients first, was a boost to my day (amazing how the smallest kind words from a spouse mean so very much); many of the folks I went to med school and residency with would see the patient also, and I feel privileged to know such folks.
I enjoyed getting together w/ Brenda Hillman this week. She is the wife of Jim H., the former manager of Medical Education at St. Vincent. Brenda treated me to lunch, Boni Hypes joined us, and it was nice to experience the full effect of Brenda's niceness and genuineness. It was a great meal. After that, she gave both Boni and me a vat of home-grown vegetables (Jim is a master gardener), which I have enjoyed.
I'd better wind up. Unw -
R
It's nice to be here; public libraries are such lovely entities.
The week has been nice. Lots of nice patients, mingled w/ the occasional ungrateful sort. That's a lot better than lots of ungrateful sorts, mingled w/ the occasional nice one, isn't it. The most memorable to me was a 17 yo in w/ poison ivy. In the course of the conversation, it came out that she was a ward of the state, her mother was a drug addict, her father dead, she was working for her high-school equivalency certificate (the GED), and had a baby about to turn 4. I looked at this cheerful teenager, 1 year older than my older son - whose interests are the bass guitar, basketball, his earring and getting looks from the occasional girl - and here she was studying for her GED, working full-time, visiting her baby in the custody of its paternal grandmother. I wish this young woman very well. I must feel grateful for the social taboos in India, which preclude unmarried parenthood, intimacy before marriage, etc. Not that these things do not happen there, but they come w/ such social ostracism that not too many indulge *overtly*. Otherwise, the same thing would be happening there - absentee/imprisoned fathers, rampant STD's, a whole generation of children growing up w/o a solid family unit in place. As it is in India, we have to deal w/ endemic domestic violence, a hateful caste system, old-fashioned beliefs about the status of women and abundant hypocrisy - it is nice to not have to deal w/ those other ills, in addition.
The state of the society here does intrigue me off and on. I don't have issues w/ young women coming into my exam room, having had 3 children by 3 different fathers, and can generally adapt to the mores here. However, I wonder at some things: there is apparently a cable TV show called "Hot ghetto mess," which is attracting quite a following. I saw a preview, and it showed 2 young Black women in a physical fight, tearing each other's clothes off. Is this place so depraved that one gets satisfaction in someone else's fights and misfortunes? What on earth does it do to one's psyche when one watches endless garbage such as this? I used to consider lack of TV akin to hippie-hood, but must admit to loving its absence and watching my sons read, enter into insightful conversations w/ us, and start taking life decisions based on inspirations from books. Would they enjoy watching half-naked women batter each other? Perhaps, but they won't get a chance for now.
The food poisoning persists, but is better. I spent the weekend w/ my in-laws and that must have helped. They were baling hay w/ some young blood help, and I caught up w/ my sister-in-law, Diane, and her cousins. It was fun. My upper body strength is pitiful, so I did not heave and heft bales, however did partake of the post-labor meal. As always, there was plenty of laughter - most therapeutic.
The 3 Weiss men continue to send lovely notes, and Scott's was great: I'd told him about a patient coming in about 15 minutes before closing, she stated she'd been there an hour, and had apparently been missed by the front office staff. My services tend to get taken for granted a bit at this clinic, and I was asked if I'd see her; I did see her - it's not great patient relations not to - and told Scott of this experience. His missive, that it was nice that some doctors put patients first, was a boost to my day (amazing how the smallest kind words from a spouse mean so very much); many of the folks I went to med school and residency with would see the patient also, and I feel privileged to know such folks.
I enjoyed getting together w/ Brenda Hillman this week. She is the wife of Jim H., the former manager of Medical Education at St. Vincent. Brenda treated me to lunch, Boni Hypes joined us, and it was nice to experience the full effect of Brenda's niceness and genuineness. It was a great meal. After that, she gave both Boni and me a vat of home-grown vegetables (Jim is a master gardener), which I have enjoyed.
I'd better wind up. Unw -
R
posted by Renu Weiss at
1:26 PM
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