Professionals???

I went to the doctor yesterday for an annual physical.  He is a great guy, but I get the feeling that he doesn't understand why I am still around.  Frankly, neither do I.  He asked for the first time about my family history.  He was shocked that there was very little disease or sickness in the family.  I attribute it to vast amounts of garlic, and screaming.

When he "performed" a digital prostate exam, he sounded surprised that it was exactly what it should be.  I was surprised that it was located just under my eye, because it seems that's where his finger was.  I asked him who "performed' this wonderful exam on him, and he said, "I can't tell you."" To which I replied, "I always heard the phrase, 'Physician heal thyself."  He seemed amused, but I was glad that there was no more probing.

This discourse got me to thinking about the way we feel about professionals.  It is ok for a physician to heal himself, but a lawyer who represents himself is considered to have a fool for a client.  This seems rather harsh, especially if the doctor is performing brain surgery.

Teaching is another profession that has a weird adage. " Those can't do, teach."  Of all the teachers I know, I would say that ineptness is no more rampant than in any other profession.  There is a longer version of the adage, which I am sure was coined by a teacher, it goes like this;  "Those who can't do, teach.  Those who can't teach, are administrators, and those that can't do either, are on the school board."

I am sure that there are other professions that have been disparaged as much as the three I have mentioned, but I can't think of any right now.  How about, "Analysts are anal, or Xray techs are easy to see through?" My two favorites, and most inappropriate, are:

Proctologists are a pain in the ass.

and,

Gynecologists are spreaders of old wives' tales.

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Where Have I Been?

Some of you have asked me where I have been. Honestly, I can't remember everything I have been doing.  Occasionally I have a flashback.  It usually involves an eleven to fourteen year-old kid doing something either incredibly brilliant, or funny, or stupid.  These "rebels without a clue" keep me young, and are the reason I enjoy going to work each and every day. 

I think the reason that I have trouble remembering is the fact that each day is brand new.  In my business you have to have  a short memory.  You can't hold a grudge.  Each day when I come in to work, every child there is an angel in training.  They each have the right to make decisions every day without the baggage of guilt for what they had done the day before weighing them down like a concrete hat. 

Now that Spring Break is here, I am sure that I will be able to wax philosophic about the political, social, and economic problems of the day.  Thereby proving to each of you that I am a curmudgeon of the highest degree.  Maybe if I wasn't in the line of work that I am, I could solve all the problems in the world.  Probably not, because I eventually get worn out by my concrete hat.

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