December 31, 2008

• You are not invited.

  Did you know that the inventor of the Heimlich maneuver (Mr. Heimlich, that's who!) has never actually used it to save someone who forgot to chew their ribeye before swallowing?  I remember reading during my first aid class in college. The same goes with us doctors, in a sense.  It's few and far between where I get to opportunity to throw off the Clark Kent glasses and don my Superman cape outside of the hospital.  In fact, The Wife™ still doesn't believe that I'm a very capable doctor since all she gets to witness is me doling out lukewarm advice to random people at parties asking me silly questions like, "why does my left eyebrow twitch when I urinate?" (The answer?  Because you're stupid!  Leave me alone so I can enjoy my diet pepsi!)

  So imagine my surprise when in the middle of dinner at a Korean restaurant she grabs my arm and screams, "That guy's having a seizure!!!"  Right then and there I did what any other doctor with "Thug Life" imprinted on his stethoscope would do...I took one more bite of bulgolgi and rice before looking up to see what the heezy is going on. Yessirreebob. One of the members of the large F.O.B. Korean ensemble (church group? office party?) across the room was doing his best Jabbawockeez impression in his chair.

  
  

  Like a knight on a white horse I galloped in--okay, in reality I probably looked more like Shrek with yellow skin jiggling his way through the tables--and told them that I was a doctor, asked someone to call 911, checked his wrist for a pulse (if someone has a radial pulse, then you know the blood pressure is good), assessed his airway, asked if someone knew his medical history, and............was completely ignored like Paula Abdul before American Idol.  In fact, when I was checking his pulse, the ajushi next to me looked up and gave me a, "Who the heck are you?  Go away!" look.  After another few awkward moments The Wife™--who is Korean--called my name and told me that they wanted me to leave him alone.  The guy at that point was stable, so I obliged.

   

  She explained to me that Koreans tend to stick together and are not always receptive to outsiders trying to enter their circle, partially due to the fact that throughout history they were always under the threat of invasion by their neighbors.  That did little to calm me, however.  I was upset.  "What if his Dilantin level is subtherapeutic?  He could seize again!  What if this is a new onset seizure?  He needs a CT scan!  What if it was a syncopal event due to an arrhythmia or myocardial infarction?  He needs to go to the ER!" 

   

  It made me wonder about how many walls we build between ourselves and those around us.  Ethnic churches, ethnic organizations, singles nights, Asian nights, married groups, Star Trek conventions, etc. are all organizations/events with honest intentions to encourage one another, but at the same time essentially hang a sign at the door reading: YOU ARE NOT INVITED.  (Which is actually a good thing in regards to Star Trek.)

   

  Would there be less violence committed against homosexuals if gays and straights openly hung out at the same clubs and bars?  Would a song like "Barack the Magic Negro" exist if country clubs were exchanged out for community clubs with a more cosmopolitan membership?  I'm not sure, but it's something I'd like to see.

   

  We don't always or have to agree or like one another, but we do have to learn how to coexist because the planet gets smaller every day.

   

  The new year starts tomorrow and there will be the usual promises to eat less, exercise more and drink less, but how about this?  This year, instead of making a resolution to make yourself better, why not promise to open yourself up to someone who is different from yourself?  (Well, unless that person is Canadian, in which there is no hope. ) And who knows, the world could very well be a better place for it.

   

  Happy New Year!!!!

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  Hey, I finally picked up a Blackberry (Bold).  Any recs on what applications I should get?

   

  Edit:  It looks like the caught the guys responsible for that rape.  Regardless of how one feels about homosexuality--sin, no sin--there's no justification for that.  And why the jab at Canadians?  Because they spell it "colour" instead of "color," that's why!

  • 6:45 am
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