Antichambre d'un Médecin, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, from The National Library of Medicine, that believes this item to be in the public domain. (More information)
Excited about a medical appointment?
I sit in the waiting area and acclimate to its atmosphere— an atmosphere that can vary considerably from one medical provider to another.
Some clinics are subdued. But, some clinics blatantly commoditize you. For those clinics, you are a temporarily captive money pouch. In college, I remember being taught that the purpose of a sound business practice was to move dollars from your pockets into mine, and I grant that businesses survive on good cash flow. But where do we find respite from the continued scratching for our funds? Where can we escape the eternal “mordidas” in the social space?
The waiting room at a medical facility in which I found myself had a jumbo television screen where the patients were mesmerized through a live telecast of an online auction of jewels and baubles. Was this entertainment to soothe nerves or a trolling for dollars exercise? Are our afflictions opportunities for increasing the cash flow from our pockets to “medical service providers”?
In another medical facility, awaiting a routine assay, I watched on a big screen the transformation of seemingly normal humans into aspiring models. Is medicine a vocation or merely a money-making machine?
Our pharmacies peddle sweets, fats, sugars, alcoholic drinks, cancer-producing tobacco products and tabloids disseminating tales of lust, passion, unfaithfulness, scandal, and general gossip about our society’s “idols”. Where does compassionate care fit in?
How are these practices consciously and unconsciously affecting our psyche, and our moral universe? How is this moral malaise affecting our decision-making at the local and national political scenes?
I nostalgically recall the innocence of family doctor waiting rooms of the past. To soothe me from an injection or to reduce fears of a future visit, I could retrieve honey-filled candy from a jar. Ah, those were the days!
What do you think?
I could write and talk for hours and hours on my experiences with the medical profession and insurance companies throughout my lifetime but I will not bore you with its overall inefficiencies, costs, and diminishing quality throughout the years, The joy in all this is I am still alive but the belief the US has the best heath care system in the world is sadly a myth when viewed from the patient's eyes.
I know this comment is not quite in line with what you are talking about.
What drives me crazy is almost every time someone wants my political opinion,
I have to donate in order to express my hopes for this country. It is a rampant
practice these days. Access to the White House agenda is definitely geared to
the wealthy.