Last night my husband and I went out with a bunch of his colleagues. Hanging out with a bunch of doctors is not really my idea of a good time, but I guess I have to accept the hand I’ve been dealt. Not that I really dislike doctors in any particular way, but there is always that invisible wall that exists between doctors and regular people. Doctors always think they are so superior, yet deep down inside I really think that literature majors are much more superior. So there.
Of our party of twelve, ten were doctors (all still working on their specialties), and two of us were doctor’s wives. Luckily, the other wife present was also a lit major, so we had something to talk about. Of the ten doctors, few actually looked like doctors, although I can’t really say what doctors should look like. But I did learn a few things about doctors last night.
Five out of the ten doctors are specializing in psychiatry. Take that, Tom Cruise! I imagine any day now I’ll be telling “5 psychiatrists walked into a bar” jokes.
Only one of the ten doctors was a surgeon. Apparently, doctors and surgeons are mortal enemies, much like lions and hyenas.
Three of the ten doctors were balding, belying their youthful ages and appearances.
Five of the ten doctors are smokers, and one of the smokers is a pulmonary specialist. I realize that as far as Greece is concerned having five people smoking out of a table of twelve isn’t that surprising a statistic. But honestly, those statistics are never going to change if five out of ten doctors smoke. I am trying to figure out how a doctor who smokes can in good conscience tell a lung disease patient not to smoke. In my opinion, doctors should be setting some sort of example, because obviously, having a sticker that says smoking can kill you in huge bold Greek letters on cigarette packages isn’t doing the trick.
I’ve gone on about smoking before so I won’t continue my diatribe now. I’m the last person to ask people to give up their vices. Yea, I hate smoking, and would prefer people didn’t do it around me, because after a night in a smoky restaurant my lungs are not feeling too great. But I am pretty sure most smokers know they shouldn’t smoke. Besides, why should they stop smoking when the doctors who tell them it is harmful smoke too?
5 comments:
An evening in the company of ten doctors, now thats a treat. Five of which were smokers, now thats an even greater treat. Oh .. about that invisible wall between doctors and all others, well it really does exist. Did you know that the size of the wall varies. If the doctor is a male, the wall is greater. If the doctor is a Greek male...Well what can i say.
You are right in your assumption about smokers not feeling the need to quit if their own doctors smoke. When I first came here from Canada where if you even have a cigarette outside, people will complain, I knew I had landed in an alternate reality when my own doctor offered me a cigarette in his office for my first checkup.
I used to smoke about 10 cigarettes a day in Canada because it's banned just about everywhere. But when I came here and saw that even my own doctor smoked, it put my smoker's guilt to the backburner. In addition, since everyone else smokes, I no longer feel the need to hide it or even to reduce my smoking. Definitely not a good thing. Now I smoke well over a pack a day.
I worked in a hospital in the US, and most of the Dr.s and nurses that worked in Respiratory smoked! In the dept. where I worked, Cardiology, several of the doctors used to go for lunch to Burger King and eat Double Whoppers with Cheese and Large Fries. They used to tell people to cut down on eating fattening foods with high cholesterol,especially like those found in fast-food restaurants too. Doctors really do think they are superior to others. In fact theey think they are so superior, that the diseases that they see everyday and treast in others won't affect them.
you know what's worse than doctors who smoke? moms and dads who smoke right in their childrens' faces. that's what bothers me. i see it way too much here.
I agree Tracie B. But the European standard seems to be to smoke. I hate it.
Seawitch and J.Doe, that is the thing. Although I do still think the smoking problem is worse here in Greece (and Europe) than in the U.S. But if doctors display the bad behavior, why listen to them? I don't know, its a slippery, slippery slope.
Anon, I agree that the size of the wall varies, and the difference is probably greater with male doctors (and Greek males especially). Although their gender never bothered me as much as their scientific backgrounds.
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