At the Clinic

Sometimes in life, one should always remember that we are all the same – no matter how much money or education one has or doesn’t have. Money is something we need a bit of but it doesn’t change the fact that we are all the same and we are all vulnerable. And education doesn’t really mean that one is wise or capable for that matter.

Let get to the topic, shall we?

All the staffs in my company visit this same doctor near our office. The doctor's an arrogant bastard who berates and insults his clientele who are mostly Chinese folk from the working class. Why? Because he’s got to become panel clinic for some of the big companies there. So he got arrogant and started throwing his weight around – acting as if he is god. Ever met any doctors like that?

Some actually believe they are gods because they think they hold the power of life and death over the patient. Damn – they can’t even tell if they will live tomorrow or when they themselves are gonna die.


Anyway, at the doctor’s clinic last week as I'm having a little sorethroat, I overheard this doctor berating and abusing this guy for being overweight. This guy – I have seen him a couple of times and we actually chatted sometimes whilst waiting for the long queue so that we can each have our consultation with the doctor.


Alex, he’s a normal guy, with a beer belly – that’s normal for guys over 40. He tries to lose weight but he told me it’s difficult because he works late and has to help take care of his kids when he goes home. He’s a single parent but he lives with his parents. A quite unassuming guy whom you’d definitely miss out in the crowd. Suddenly we (all the other patients) heard loud voices and we heard Alex telling off the doctor in a furious tone.


"I didn’t come here to get insulted and verbal abuse from you. My company pays for us (it’s employees) to get treatment and you get paid to provide medical advice and a prescription. You have no bloody right to insult me by calling me a fatso and telling me all kinds of degrading crap!!!" "You get paid! Isn’t that enough? What is all this sanctimonious shit that you’re trying to offload on me. You are even more overweight than I am! And where do you get the idea that I don’t care about my health? I care more about my health than you do. You just talk and accuse me of overeating!!!"


"What the hell do you know? Do you know the past 3 weeks I have skipped my dinner, gone jogging every night and I have stopped drinking!!! As an educated man, you should ask and find out stuff before starting on a lecture and guilt trip on me!!!" "And where do you get off being so damn egoistic and arrogant? You think you’re god??? So you study a degree to be a doctor, so what??? I studied to be an engineer, what makes you better than me? You specialize in medicine – I specialize in engineering – who are you to behave in such an arrogant manner!!!??"


"Let me tell you something. The company pays for my medical bills. If you continue to abuse and insult me, I am reporting you to my company and would request that you be removed from the panel of consulting doctors." "Just give me your advice politely, gimme my medicine and quit trying to sell me shit. You’re always trying to con me into buying stuff and when I don’t buy it – you scream at me for being overweight. You bloody clown!!! Don’t you know that you are providing a service and I am the customer? What kind of business do you think you are doing? Crap!!!"


Phew! That was a mouthful!I never thought Alex would freak out like that. The poor guy is always stressed out and I guess he probably had enough abuse and just exploded. I don’t blame him actually. The poor guy – sick and still have to endure abuse from the doctor.

Sometimes there’s a fine line between caring for your patients and taking out your frustrations on them.