Why I Went To Graduate School

I went to a doctor this morning. Two and a half hours later, I saw the doctor for 2 minutes. He told me I needed a procedure next Tuesday. I knew that on Saturday.

I filled out paper work. The same paper work I filled out in the hospital 100 feet away on Saturday. I waited with ten people past the age of sixty. All had more hair than I do. We all waited for hours. Old people have an easier time. Old people want air conditioners, a magazine, and the news. I want more.

I finally get called back. The nurse prys through my choking and family history. I almost cry when I tell her about my grandmothers' cancer. She got every death in the family out of me. She was nice. But she got pleasure out of my family's unpleasant health history. I did not. I have no chance of living past fifty.

Thirty minutes later I hear the doctor outside the door telling the nurse how he had misplaced a x-ray. Then he says, "Who is this guy?...Oh, the choker." I wanted to walk out, but I am scared of my mother.

He asks me the same questions the nurse did. I have to repeat my choking stories. They are not funny anymore. Repeating my family history brings another tear. In the middle of our consultation, he runs into the hall. I hope he found his x-ray.

He tells me I have to have this procedure. I probably have nothing wrong with me, but I have to have this procedure. Finally he asks what I do. I tell him "I am a graduate student studying 'econ'."

He gets a puzzled look on his face. I hoped he was going to tell me to go to hell. But instead, "What does 'econ.' stand for?" It made me real proud to be an economist. We have taught the world nothing, and do not plan on teaching anything.

In the end, I will pay who knows what to fill out paper work, wait, and briefly see a doctor who does not know what 'econ.' stands for. I have no idea what Saturday cost me or what next Tuesday will cost. The whole thing is ridiculous.

The American medical system needs to know what' econ.' means.

(Sam: I have not forgotten the 'service and flow' economy. I am leading up to it.)