Ask Me If I Care...

A recent trip to the emergency room with my wife for an asthma attack has provided me with probably the best example you could ever have of the difference between health care professionals with a bedside manner and those that don't. The doctors and nurses in the ER were awesome to say the least. They showed genuine compassion and through humor helped ease the stress of what was a potentially life threatening situation. Even though the staff were keeping the mood light it was clear that they were taking the problem very seriously and that there was a lot of work going on in the background. I was so impressed and grateful that we had such a good team that night in the ER. At the time we were unaware of just how critical the problem was and it's not an exaggeration to say things could have easily ended up with my wife dying. The staff were quick to start treatment and did what they needed to to help get things under control all the while using humor and compassion to keep stress down, something that could easily exacerbate the asthma attack.

I was so grateful that the contrast to our experience came much later after my wife had stabilized. I will never, ever understand why it is someone that completely lacks any form of social skill becomes a doctor. I'm not talking in the purely academic sense of a degree but instead of the ones that choose to become a doctor that will interact with patients like the shrew of a woman that was a pulmonary "expert" that visited my wife. This doctor lacked any form of a bedside manner and was void of any sense of compassion. My wife's condition even dropped off a bit after our brief encounter with her. It makes me shudder to think of how things could have turned out had she been the initial doctor in the ER. Save a patient that is unconscious I can't think of another situation that would bring someone to the ER that wouldn't be made better by a doctor that has the ability to diffuse stress and anxiety and to show some basic compassion for what the patient is going through. I know it seems like something trivial but the ability of health care staff to diffuse a patient's stress is vital in the initial stages of critical care so that the problem isn't being made worse by something that doesn't need to be in the equation.

Doctors such as "shrew woman" don't do patients any favors by being in the health care system. A doctor's ability to heal their patient doesn't just come from their ability to regurgitate knowledge it also comes from their personality. A doctor can tell you all the "scientific" reasons you need a particular course of treatment but without a sense that your doctor cares it just isn't as effective and in some cases could even make matters worse. A treatment can't just be sold on the merits of it will work because x+y=z there also needs to be a doctors ability to convince their patient that they chose the treatment based on that patient as an individual and a belief that the doctor actually cares if they get better. Compassion is critical to patient care and doctors that lack that ability need to be doing work in a research field where they won't have any patient interaction. The blame doesn't just lie with these "soulless" doctors it also belongs with the educational institutions. Schools need to have much more stringent policies with regard to a student's ability to interact with others. At an early stage students that lack a "bedside" manner should be encouraged to move toward a field that doesn't involve patient interaction and if they choose to stay their current course then they should take mandatory classes in patient interaction. If at the end they still cannot provide good, not adequate, patient interaction they either move off to a non-patient care field or fail out of the program.

I am so grateful that things turned out the way they did and thank the staff that took such good care of my wife in the ER and later in the pulmonary ward. They are all so awesome at their jobs and were a prime example of how a balance between smarts and humanity make for a faster recovery. As for people like "shrew woman" they need to be in a research lab or locked in a room and used only as consultants on cases.

Obilivous or A Jerk in Oblvious Clothing?

"I didn't see that no left turn sign", "Oh that was the exit door not the entrance?", "Was that a one way street? Oops.", "I thought my garbage went in the can, my bad", "Sorry wasn't paying attention to where I was going when I walked into you standing there". I could go on but I think you get the message here. There are people out there that seem to go through life with blinders on. They don't pay attention to their surroundings and are baffled by all the little incidents they get into daily. So are these people just addle minded or is there something more sinister going on here? I think that there are people that genuinely go through life in a daze but I also firmly believe that there are those that only pretend to be that way. Now why would one want to pretend to be oblivious to everything going on around them? Simple, what better way to be a complete jerk and get away with it? If someone bumped into you on purpose you'd be pretty angry but if they "accidentally" bumped into you because they weren't paying attention then they could just apologize and move on without incident. Better yet they may even get an apology from the person they wronged. For these people it's all about being passive aggressive. They decide, for whatever reason, they don't like something but instead of being rational and trying to fix it they charge in to try and meet out their own brand of personal justice. Whether it's because they feel that road shouldn't be a one way, the entrance door should have been closer to where they parked, it's stupid that you can't turn left at that light and so on these people do what they want and then claim "I wasn't paying attention" to get away with behavior they know is unacceptable. So next time someone "accidentally" does something because they weren't paying attention take a good look at them, maybe they aren't what they seem.

Why Did the Pedestrian Cross the Road?

Have you ever been driving down the street and you see a pedestrian getting ready to cross when suddenly they bolt off the curb and as soon as they get in front of your vehicle they stop their sprint and start a casual walk? What would compel a person to suddenly stop their hasty crossing right in front of a mass of metal and glass that will easily win the contest of who will survive this collision? I can only see two possibilities here. 1) They have a death wish and are looking to you to do their suicide dirty work for them. If you don't hit them then no big loss they can just try it again later. If you're that keen on ending your life that way get a sign like Wiley Coyote did, maybe you'll get lucky and someone will help you out. 2) These people are like the people with loud vehicles, they crave attention. All I have to say to those people is that in 5 minutes the only thing I will remember is you were some generic moron and in 20 minutes it will be like you never even exist. Your cry for attention, to be noticed, remembered will all have been in vain. My mental picture will have an <> where your face would be. If you want that much attention slather yourself in some raw meat and head to your local zoo and jump in the lion's pen. At least that way you will have made the news and maybe someone will have remembered you.

Good, Good, Good Vibrations?

Well summer is nearly at an end and while I enjoy the warm temperature and lush greenery around me I'm also glad that soon I won't have to listen to the infantile rumblings of motorbikes and cars with modified mufflers. You know these people, the ones with the vehicles that rattle windows, shake foundations and generally annoy everyone around them. I will never understand the need these people have to use obnoxiously loud vehicles. I suppose they could be deaf and want to "feel" the vehicle to make sure it's running but I kind of doubt that. I expect it has more to do with the person's need for others to pay attention to them. Perhaps in their everyday life they are the kind of person that no one pays attention to and just exist in the background but when they get in or on their noisy vehicle of choice suddenly it's "Hey everyone look at me! You can't ignore me now even if you wanted to can you?!". Here's an idea, how about you go out and make some friends so that the rest of us that could care less about you or your noisy vehicle can enjoy our peace and quite. The world is noisy enough with all the "background" noise of daily life without some jerk with an insecurity complex trying to make us all pay attention to them. For those of you that have these vehicles and say "but I don't need people to pay attention to me, I just like it" you fall into a different, yet more disturbing category. I can only guess that you do it because in some way the vibrations from your vehicle somehow allow you to perform some form of self gratification. My advice to those is there is therapy for people that require an audience to perform, seek it out.

Turn Signals, They Aren't Just For Breakfast Anymore.

Yes it's time for yet another pet peeve of mine. Why is it people can't seem to grasp the simple concept of the turn signal? The turn signal was designed to let others around you know what you are planning to do with your 1 ton pile of potential death on wheels. You need to change lanes, turn a corner, turn down a roadway, park you car, etc you use the turn signal to notify the people around you of what you are doing. I'll make it even easier for you turn signal challenged. If you are not planning on continuing on in a straight line it's time for the turn signal. For those of you that can't be bothered to use your turn signal you deserve every accident you get into, it's just to bad you don't take into account the innocent person you involve in your lazy stupidity. This includes those of you that start turning THEN turn on your signal light. Your turn signal is to let others know what you are planning to do not what you are already doing. Remember, it's located on the steering column for your convenience so for crying out loud use it! It won't kill you to burn a fraction of a fraction of a calorie will it? Coming soon to a roadway near you, hazard lights...for broken down vehicles or lazy people?

They're Such a Great Person....

Have you ever had a bad encounter with someone or know a person that 99% of the population just can't stand and then someone comes over to you and says "they are such a great person...once you get to know them". Well I've got news for those people! How great of a person can they be if you have to get to know them to see it?! A great person, by virtue of calling them a great person, should stand out noticeably in some way. I'm not saying they should be in your face, flamboyant, loud or anything like that but you should be able to tell that the person is different in some way.

For me a "great" person is someone that thinks of others before themselves or is kind without expecting kindness in return. A "great" person finds the "great" in others that they themselves probably don't see. A "great" person looks to help improve the lives of those around them. I'm not saying that "great" people have to be saints or are infallible but they do stand out in the way they treat others. I'm by no means a "great" person and I know that but I also don't have a personality that warrants others saying "But he's such a great guy...once you get to know him". Those people are just jerks, plain and simple, with people that for some reason feel the need to make excuses for their bad behavior.

The Spam that Time Forgot

Okay we all hate spam right? I'm sure even the spammers hate getting other people's spam. But lately I've been getting spam that is even more annoying than just your regular plain old spam. I guess you could call it Back to the Spam for a good ole pop culture reference or Quantum Spam for the science fans. It's spam that is dated for something stupid like 1986. I've had one dated as early as 1986 and for Viagra no less. Nothing is more annoying than trying to find a "new" message among all your old ones. To the spammers that are doing this are you just lazy, stupid or is this some new marketing scheme for spam? I thought the point of spam was to try and get people to buy what you are selling. Do you think annoying them is going to help? Perhaps you are just lazy. If that's the case then the least you can do while trying to annoy us all and take up internet bandwidth is set your stinkin' computer clock!

Someone Hit The Snooze On That Car Alarm

As I was perusing my favorite web pages today I noticed that a car alarm had gone off in the street below. While not unusual in the downtown area and it's something I normally block it out as "normal" city background noise it quickly became something that could not be ignored. For the last 2 hours now it has gone off every 2-3 minutes! It really defeats the purpose of having a car alarm if you are just going to ignore it. If my car alarm had been going off that often I would be out there investigating what was going on. Now some people are probably thinking, what if the person is out of the range of their vehicle, how do you expect them to hear it and check on their vehicle? Well my answer to that is why is it going off every 2-3 minutes for over 2 hours?! Is someone attempting to steal the vehicle every 2-3 minutes? NO! Obviously something is wrong with the car alarm and it's that person's responsibility to ensure that it's function properly. At some point they have to have been near the vehicle when it's doing this if it happens that frequently, so fix it already! People that ignore their car alarms are as bad as those parents that take their kids out in public then proceed to ignore their child's tantrums. But that's for another rant...

People that Pay the Government for the Privilege of Being Stupid

Now for something that absolutely drives me nuts! People that bitch and moan about getting tickets. Whether it’s a parking ticket, speeding ticket, DUI or some other traffic violation ticket. A lot of people seem to think that it’s a big government conspiracy to line to pockets of the police and government officials. I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy and I’m always weary of the things people will do to try and make a buck by ripping off other people but come on! If you think about it these tickets wouldn’t be the big cash cows people claim them to be if people just obeyed the law. It’s not a hard concept folks, don’t break the law and the government won’t take your money! Now I know some people say it’s their right to drive how they want to and park where they want to but you don’t really. Driving is not a right it’s a privilege. If was a right then as soon as you turned legal age to drive you would be able to hop into a vehicle and be on your merry way but that’s not how it works is it? The reason we have a licensing system is to make sure that any old moron without proper motor skills or the brain power to put together more than 2+2=4 together doesn’t get on the road. Although there are quite a few that seem to get through anyway. If you want to look for a conspiracy theory or people that get rich from ripping people off look at the people that “sell” drivers licenses. Those are the people you should be complaining to you for letting losers that otherwise should be driving on the road. The concept is so simple it’s painful. Don’t speed, don’t get a ticket, and don’t loose your money. Don’t run a red light or stop sign, don’t get a ticket, and don’t loose your money. Don’t be a complete douche bag because you somehow think your time is more valuable or that you are somehow more important than anyone else and park your car where it shouldn’t be parked and you won’t get a ticket and loose your money. Honestly, how hard is it to park your car properly and take that extra 30 seconds to walk to where you need to go? Odds are if you are that kind of person you probably need the exercise anyway. Besides that 30 seconds you save won’t really matter when you are standing there using it up to bitch about the ticket you just got and the time you will have to take to pay it. So how does it feel to save 30 seconds only to have to use up 30 minutes to deal with your stupidity? Just incase your among the mentally challenged you would have to park like that 60 times to break even and get no tickets, what are the odds you think you’ll get away with it that much?

The only conspiracy going on here is the one where the police are trying to protect people like me from the losers that feel they are somehow more important than everyone else and that they should be given special consideration to do what they want. Here’s a news flash for those people. You are not any more special than the rest, if anything it’s the opposite. You deserve to be fined till you are destitute and living on the street without your car. Maybe then it will help give you some perspective on how things really work. Everyone is equal and if we were all following the simple laws of driving then we wouldn’t have accidents that kill and injure people and waste so much of everyone’s time. When you cause an accident it’s not just the people in the accident that you affect it’s everyone around that accident. So your little time saving manoeuvres like speeding, running lights and stop signs end up costing a lot more people a lot more time than what your tiny mind thinks it’s actually saving. A small word to those that like to gawk at the accident. If you are not a doctor, nurse, EMT, fireman or any type of rescue help then move along! Staring will not help the people in the accident and all you are doing is slowing down help getting to them and causing traffic delays. How hard is that to get?

Now for the bottom feeders of all these people, the one’s that like to drink and drive. There really isn’t much I can say that these people haven’t heard before or that will sink into that ounce of butterscotch pudding they like to call their brain. You are 100% to blame if you get into a car drunk no exceptions. You know when you had alcohol so it’s not a shock that you may be drunk and that you shouldn’t drive. Sadly, the ones that truly suffer are the families of the people that loser drunk driver kills. I don’t know how, but it seems that the one that gets to live in these accidents is the scumbag that made the choice to drive drunk. Instead it’s some random person that dies because of someone else’s stupidity. If it were up to me these people would spend the rest of their lives in jail so that their “suffering” would at least try to balance out the suffering of all those family members. Not that it would ever come close to balancing out but at least it’s a start. Drink and drive, go to jail till you die in it, simple! I think the only people worse than a drunk driver, if it’s really possible, are the ones that defend these lowlifes and make a profit off of it. Maybe the people that do that should have a penalty as well. If they lose the case then they go to jail for a time as well. After a while the scumbag drivers would run out of people to defend them. Now before you get your panties in a bunch I’m not saying people are not allowed a reasonable defence. It’s the scumbags that get people off on a “technicality” that need to go. If you know you drove drunk fess up and take your punishment don’t hire someone to weasel out of it for you!

So next time you CHOOSE to speed, park illegally, run a light, drink and drive or whatever and get a ticket remember no one put a gun to your head and made you do it you CHOSE to break the law so suck it up and be a responsible human being, like you should, pay your fine and move on. If you really have extra money to burn then do something more worthwhile with it and donate to a charity or something. Anyone that complains the “cops are getting rich” off of tickets only has themselves to blame. You’re the one making them rich not me! Don’t want them to “get rich” then quit breaking the law moron!

The End of the World is Nigh!

Well it seems as though I've taken my next step into the internet neighborhood. After seeing a friend’s blog I decided that maybe I should give this internet sharing a whirl. I'm still not getting a myspace, facebook or any of that other stuff so don't ask! I'm not really sure what I want to do here yet. Should I make it a funny blog, an angry guy hates the world blog, inane rant blog, emo blog, talk about my pet blog, extol the virtues of Happy Bunny blog, a rage against society and the corporate world blog, talk about movies blog, a conspiracy blog, a top thirteen list blog (just to be different), links to get rich quick schemes blog, talk about how stupid you have to be to believe you can get something for nothing blog or maybe my best bet is to combine all of them and try to have a make it interesting so you don't fall asleep reading blog.

Let's start off with something I find thoroughly amusing, Happy Bunny. Just in case you don't know who he is here is a link Try the game it's fun. I think there is a little bit of Happy Bunny in all of us he just says what most of us wish we could say. Embrace your inner Happy Bunny you'll be glad you did, maybe not happier but a lot more satisfied.