I Love This O. S.

I really didn't think I was a computer geek, but then I muttered the
above words several days ago. I guess the declaration of love for an
operating system really does make me one. I just purchased an Apple
computer, by the way, and after using the Mac O. S. there is no way
I'm going back to Windows. However, I really can't go on about this
subject because... it's only worsening by tech geekiness.

It's 3:30 AM tonight and I just finished the worst E. R. shift ever.
I'm usually inclined not to complain or praise anything about work.
Just ask Megan. Every time she wants to know how my day went, I
usually respond with "It was O.K." no matter what the shift was
like. What makes this an exception? Well, it wasn't the workload.
I've definitely seen busier nights than this. No one was
exceptionally sick, either. It just seemed that every patient and
their family member was pissed off or had an attitude. Even one of
the consultants was a prick to me. By far the most common diagnosis
I made tonight was "Assholism" I don't know what it was. No one
seemed to like what I had to tell them and I wasn't exactly breaking
bad news.

Typical conversation:

Me: "We're going to have to get an EKG"
Patient: "Well, what the hell for? I just want you to treat my high
blood sugar and then I can get out of here. I don't need an EKG.
How many times do I have to tell you I just had one last week? Why
are you pushing these tests on me? I'm not waiting here all night so
you can do an EKG" (The test takes less than a minute)

or

Another patient: "I hate this hospital. People should only come to
this hospital if they want to die, because they can't take care of
you at this hospital." (Why did this patient even come here tonight?)

Anyway, it's not uncommon to get comments like these once in a
while. That's the nature of emergency medicine and you have to have
tough skin in this field. However, it seemed like everyone I saw
tonight had an attitude. You see most people don't know this but
doctors are sensitive people. We went into this field because we
like to think we are good with people and we get a kick out of
helping someone. So, it's just part of our nature to be hurt by
comments like this, even though we shouldn't.

Well, at least I have my Mac operating system to love me ; )