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Friday, November 17, 2006These are the reading material the demons lay out in the waiting rooms of hell, and if I could have found a box of kitchen matches, I would have burned down the offices of the various doctors I’ve been forced to visit over the last three weeks. Not to worry: There’s nothing wrong with me except some aches and pains and lingering colds, all caused by general lack of “taking care of yourself,” as one doctor kindly explained. In fact, she said, “You are in as bad a shape as a body can possibly be and not actually be very sick. There are these things called exercise, sleep, and regular meals. You ought to try them sometime.” Turns out that coffee and cigarettes are not completely reliable substitutes. Good to know, I suppose. But that physicians’ tone of moral authority—oh, how it grates, and, oh, how it works. Even dentists have it, the voice that speaks from certain knowledge of right and wrong in your personal behavior: “Do you floss after every meal?” There isn’t priest or pastor left in America who would dare assume that stern, judgmental tone. Besides, it comes at you just when you’re worn down—by the sickness that brought you there in the first place, by having nothing to read except an age-yellowed copy of People, by the sheer, unendurable boredom of waiting. And waiting. And waiting. Yes. We have our ways..... posted by Sydney on 11/17/2006 10:43:00 PM 2 comments 2 Comments:All we do, much of the time, is tell people what they already know- or point out what their friends and relatives don't dare say. By 4:53 PM , atIts not the content; its the air of moral superiority. By Cerulean Bill, at 8:26 PM |
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