Here are three instances of mind-blowing absurdity that occurred on Monday morning during outpatient pediatrics clinic.
1. A 7 year old female comes in because of an ear infection. I notice that she's carrying a Louis Vuitton Speedy 25 bag. A real one. I compliment the bag, and little girl brags about how mommy bought it for her for Christmas. Mom subsequently refuses a flu shot because they "can't afford it".
2. Teenage parents bring in their 2 year old son because he has Chicken Pox, meaning that he hasn't been vaccinated properly. Dad's excuse is that they never found his records and they just assumed he had everything. He tells me this story while wearing custom Nike sneakers with faux-fur trim and a pair of True Religion jeans. The baby is on Medicaid.
3. Mom brings in her 9 year old son because of a 3 month history of a swollen lymph node. She yells at me because she had to wait 20 minutes in the exam room before she was seen. She yells at the doctor because she feels ignored and misunderstood. Every possible lab study has been done on her son. Because she doesn't believe anything anyone tells her, she's making him go through an uncomfortable surgery to have the benign lymph node removed. It should also be noted that she's never once brought her son in for an annual physical or preventative heath care.
I'm trying to come up with the right way to explain how this makes me feel. How priorities and personal responsibility aren't in style anymore.
This is the best I can do: I don't get it.
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