Lifefunny

If
you ever want to know when you have either hit middle age or
passed it, I can give you a very accurate indicator to go
by. Look at the age of your doctors…



Now, if you’ll recall, when you were just a kid, all of the
doctors you had to go see were old, I mean really old. Now,
stick with me here, but Einstein should have been looking at
age, rather than the speed of light to determine his theory
of relativity. When your mother marched you into that clinic
for a shot or checkup for measles or a cold, you knew this
guy working on you was ancient, so was his nurse. When
you’re ten years of age, everyone, I mean everyone is old.
Your teachers may have been twenty-five years of age, but to
you they were old. You wonder how they can even get around
and speculate as to whether or not you’ll ever get to their
age. In your mind you don’t see how this would ever be
possible. Only when you get to be in your thirties and
forties, do you stop and think back at just how young your
teachers actually were when you were in the first grade.



Same thing goes for doctors, all our lives we’ve gotten used
to have wise older physicians take care of us as we struggle
through the pains and agonies of growing up, falling out of
trees, bicycle wrecks, skinned knees, mumps, measles and
whatever the disease of the day happened to be.



Somewhere along the way, something curious happened; our old
doctors died or retired and were replaced with younger,
newer ones who look like kids…not graduates of medical
school. I have a hard time trusting my life to doctors and
airplane pilots who don’t look old enough to drive, much
less operate on my body or control an huge airplane.



This past week, I tripped over something in the hallway and
tore my good knee all to pieces. I decided the best thing to
do is to get it over with, suck it up and get the operation
out of the way over this long Memorial Day weekend. It’s day
surgery, one of those arthroscopic things they do these
days. I had one done on the other knee a few years ago and
it wasn’t any big deal, so I might as well go on and get
this one out of the way as soon as possible. All goes well,
with the exception that you can’t have anything to drink
after midnight the evening before the operation. I’d kill
for a cup of coffee.



Everyone at this day surgery hospital is cheerful, polite,
and very efficient. These folks have done this before. I
don’t know about you, but I hate going in some place and
feeling as if I’m the first customer they’ve had. You know,
you go into some hamburger joint and when you order a
burger, they look at you like a calf looking at a new gate
as if they had no clue as to what you’re talking about.
Like, why are they there in the first place. Makes me crazy.



Anyway, back to the hospital….here I am stretched out on the
gurney in the operating room and these two kids, I mean kids
come in and start sticking needles into me. I’m asking who
they are and they kindly explain to this old man that they
are my anesthesiologists and will be giving me some stuff to
knock me out for the surgery. Well, I’m curious to know more
about these guys and we start talking about where they went
to school. Seems they went to the same schools in Houston as
my boys, then on to medical school and now here they are.
I’m feeling more comfortable and we start discussing the
differences between big city traffic and where we live now.
As I recall, I think I managed to get about five words out
of my mouth before I was transported into la-la land and out
of it. Needless to say I survived and am doing well, thank
you very much.



I woke up a little while later with a young nurse handing me
some ice water and crackers. None of these people look old
enough to be here. I’m still about half goofy when one of
the doctors drops by to check on me and make sure I’m ok.
While I sit there I manage to let my mind wander and reflect
back on how things change in our lives without us even
noticing them since we’re so busy going through life’s
little routines. If the doctors have gotten younger, it
makes me wonder if the teachers have as well.



Life is funny, isn’t it?