What if?

After a long day at work I went to the grocery store.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  As I pulled in I overheard a domestic dispute.  The lady in the car was yelling at the man in the car to "get out of my car", "stop it", etc.  I couldn't tell what was going on but I could see the woman hitting the man.

Thinking this was only an argument initially I thought nothing of it.  As I walked to the store entrance I got to thinking "What if?".  What if he was doing something to her? What if this was the start of a date rape, etc? What if?  I didn't know.  Because of the situation I didn't want to be the guy that could've stopped it but didn't do anything.  A simple phone call could stop a potentially dangerous situation.

I decided to call the police when I was out of their sight (I parked next to them and my car is pretty easy to point out. I also wanted to remain anonymous).  I gave them all the information I could and the police informed me they would check into it.

I finished shopping and less than 10 minutes later went back to my car.  Four police cruisers had responded.  The lady was arguing with one of the officers stating she was just having an argument with her boyfriend and they argue all the time.  The officer was handling it like a champ.

Though this may have been an over-reaction to the situation after the facts were known, what if?

I'll take a moment here to thank all the officers who respond to calls like this, potentially putting their lives on the line. They never know what they are walking into but they do it every time they respond to a call.  They are underappreciated in our time and we don't have nearly enough of them to help. 

Thank you, officers, for everything you do.

Joking with the parents

Some background, I am American-Mexican (I know most of the United States says Mexican-American, just ask Cheech and Chong) but I am American first, of Mexican heritage.

Continuing, sometimes jokes go over my parent's head.  The only thing worse than telling a bad joke is having to explain why the bad joke is funny.

I told a joke that was (in my opinion) hilarious.  As much as I want to take credit for this joke it has to go to Gary Johnson.

Here goes (I'll use a pic):

My parents don't follow politics too closely but they are usually in tune to the major things (like Trump building a wall type stuff).  Unfortunately for me I had to explain this joke to my mom.  She starts laughing uncontrollably. She likes the joke so much (now that she understands) that she passes the phone to my dad and tells me to tell him.

I repeat the joke to my dad.  He also doesn't get it.  He is usually a little more up to speed with politics than my mom.  Unfortunately I had to explain the joke to him as well.  

 Instead of laughing at the joke he asked me "why would the Mexicans pole vault when they normally dig tunnels?"

I got to admit, this caught me off guard.  He has done this before, catching me off guard with his jokes/statements.  He once told me our family couldn't be called wetbacks because we crossed the Rio Grande when it was ankle deep (just to clarify, both me and my parents were born in the US, just a joke).

Which is better?

I recently had a patient complain to my boss about something out of my control.

Long story very condensed:

The last four hours of my shift I got four new patients.  Two of these people were septic (systemic infection, potentially fatal, both requiring a lot of attention), one had a small bowel obstruction (extremely painful, requires a tube that goes up the nose into the stomach), and the last patient (the one who complained) had chest pain with no other clinical signs or symptoms (usually send home with recommendations to follow up with cardiologist).

Each time I entered the room of the fourth patient I would begin by apologizing for the delay and the doctor was working as fast as he could.  I would continue by updating him with everything I could. He was always pleasant with me when I spoke with him.

At the end of my shift I reported to the nurse so I could go home.  Sometime after I left the fourth patient became irritated, stood at the nurses station and exclaimed we should not be working short staffed (by this point he had been in the ER for over six hours, one hour in the lobby, the rest waiting for the doctor). Referring back to the other patients I was working with, the doctor was also helping multiple other people.  We were a little busy.

After my coworker threw me under the bus (she claimed she would not use my name when replying to boss man), I clarified the situation to my boss.

His response confuses me.

1. NEVER apologize to a patient. They come to the ER, they should expect to wait
2. NEVER tell the patient we are busy
3. Instead tell them "the doctor is spending quality time with each and every patient and he will spend quality time with you as soon as he is available".

How is this better than saying "we've been busy, the doctor will get to you as soon as possible"?  In my mind I hear the exact same thing.  My wife agrees with how my boss told me to handle future situations.  She described him as a "Spin Doctor" (all I heard was Little Miss Can't Be Wrong).  

I make it a point to be upfront with all my patients.  I understand both statements are the same.  I also understand one is more politically correct.  

If I were your nurse which would you prefer me tell you?  If anybody reads this, please let me know in the response section.