Still it has certainly been an eventful week for doctors in the news. Just yesterday an amusing article about clashing doctors caught my eye. Let's face it, the thorny relationship between a surgeon and an anaesthetist can be compared to a pair of bitchy, quarrelsome spouses bound together on a most uncomfortable marital bed. Certainly there are good days when both manage to rub along tolerably well but that doesn't last for long. With the insanely large egos most doctors are credited with, neither side will ever give in and see eye-to-eye on a large number of issues in the operating theatre - but for the sake of the patients and their work, they remain handfisted together. Till death do they part.
But obviously, some doctors aren't simply content with waiting for death to make an appearance. Every once in a while these domestic squabbles do lead to physical abuse - and that's what happened recently in one of the hospitals here as a pair of dueling doctors made the news. Obviously subscribing to an extended version of the Hippocrates Oath that advocates dealing out pain, a prominent surgeon lashed out and slapped the anaesthetic medical officer - thereby laying down the gauntlet ( or in this case, the bloody gloves ) for retaliation. No wilting Asian cherry blossom herself, the medical officer gave back as good as she got with the One-handed Furious Fist of Death.
With the insane levels of stress at work, it doesn't surprise me that most doctors are a jittery bundle of nerves just waiting to explode at the slightest provocation. For myself, I deal with the stress by swallowing a large dose of inane humour but that's me. It always surprises me however when someone so steeped in learning ( supposedly! ) sinks down to such depths of uncivilized barbarism - and acts out in behaviour more befitting of a pack of bickering baboons in the jungle battling for supremacy. There are little squabbles in the operating theatre but we certainly don't resort to bitch-slapping and karate chops.
Really. Suddenly I am not amused.
What happened at dinnertime however did amuse me. As I recounted the hilarious kung fu fighting tale - and gave my own account of egoistic physicians - to a delighted Big Bicep Barry ( who knew that serious, stoic face could display so much hilarity? ), he suddenly stopped me midway and told me that I was intimidating. Just out of the blue, this guy with the biceps of death ( surely enough to throttle me without breaking a sweat ) calls me intimidating?
Seriously. Moi?
9 comments:
I'm not sure I'd be entirely comfortable with my surgeon and anes-anaes-knockout guy punching each other over my comatose body. I'd be worried even if one accidentally stepped on the foot of the other.
Re. BBB. Perhaps he meant that you're intellectually intimidating. Which is a good thing, he's bowing to your superior brainpower. At least you won't be the bimbo in the relationship ;)
Well, James we do have the occasional squabbles. Not often since I'm an affable kinda guy - and I do have a reputation for a mean streak :)
Superior brainpower, me? You gotta be talking about someone else!
Paul
The Knockout Guy
Okay, that's a great thing to know. I think I should tell both two to behave nicely and no fighting during the surgery if I have to be on it..... huh...
Of course you're intimidating - you're an obsessive-compulsive doctor/writer with a license to shoot anaesthetics. Even biceps of death can't stand up to that!
I would assume that you need to do some serious studing (i.e. med school) to become a knockout guy. At least I hope you do! So passing those exams would indicate a certain level of brainpower, no?
...unless you bought your degree on the internet. *grin*
Third time's the charm...*sigh*
I dunno, intimidating isn't how I would describe Paul. Right now I'm imagining him dressed up in a set of 'white' pajamas, complete with black belt and even a red headband.
...Nope. Cute maybe, but not intimidating. ;-)
... my mind went off at a tangent of merchandising cute Paul action dolls (anatomically correct, natch) in white PJs and red headband, with maybe a cool tux to change into ... I think the xmas spirit is getting to me ...
Supposedly educated persons sinking into uncivilised barbarism? No surprise there. Think of all those free-for-all punch-ups between politicians during government debates. Shocking, my dear, shocking.
People have sometimes called me intimidating, too ... which appeals to my sense of the ridiculous. :oD I think it's more than just intelligence and education in your case though, Paul, maybe a combination of that with charisma enthusiasm and the impression of being a guy who's got it together (whether you feel like that inside or not). Then again, I suppose slamming Handsome Hui into a corner and interrogating him on his sexual preferences might have something to do with it ... ;oD
Sorry to disappoint you, shigeki, but doctors do squabble every once in a while. No body blows though.
weeshiong, me intimidating? You have gotta be kidding. I'm a meek submissive little soul.
I did actually get my degree online, James, at meddegree.com :)
But Daniel, white pjs with a red head band looks like a karate uniform. Like the idea of a toy, ru! So cute!
But bodyslamming Hui in the locker room was totally uncharacteristic and totally aberrant behaviour for me. I've got it together?!
lost, I know!
Paul
yes...if you include the black belt it's almost *exactly* like a karate uniform. >.> Oh well, at least Hrugaar got it. I think.
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