An Observation....

I was at the hospital today and my heart went through some very testing time indeed. I have learnt that though the general hospital has many wonderful staff at work, there seemed to be some who still doesn't know what it means to be a public servant. Like I said, there are some really wonderful, dedicated and beautiful people working in the hospital and so, I will not lump them together with some of the rather "not so healthy apples" in the basket.  I am fortunate enough to be well-dressed, educated and literate. I have been to the General Hospital before and I know that every layer of our society goes through those sliding/glass panel/wooden doors each day seeking medication for their ailment day in day out.

I have often found that when you are dressed up sharp, smart and clean, you are usually treated "better" than the rest of the normal people. My sincere observations also included that if you speak clearly, politely and you do no raise your voice, you will be treated very nicely. If you are literate, you have a silver shinning pen ( be it a Sheafer or a Parker pen ) in your pocket, you will see the difference in treatment. Afterall, these "difficult ones" ( the not so healthy apples ) would not even dare to raise their voice to you or speak roughly to you because they will think that you are educated and your letters to the Director might land them in trouble.

I can't help but comment on this because today, I experienced the "double standard" treatment. You see, there was this wonderful mother who brought in her teenage daughter who was physically-challenged and was at the clinic way earlier than me. As I registered my daughter at the clinic, we took a number and sat down - waiting for the usual weighing in and blood pressure test and so on. All the while, I was at my best behaviour and I know that if I were to pace up and down the specialist aisle, somebody is bound to ask questions and if I smiled and asked the correct questions, our turn could be up next. By the way, we had an appointment earlier and so that wasn't the issue. What I saw next was kinda sad for me that is the mother and the daughter were told to go and get the preliminary test done before being called for their appointment. They were in the same room with my daughter at that time. I spoke to the mother while my daughter was waiting for her time to do the test. As I was at the door, she told me that both mother and daughter had to cater a cab to get to the GH for their appointment and get treatment for her daughter. How great was this woman's love for her teenage daughter! Then I asked her at what time did she came in and she told me that they had arrived at GH at about 7.45am and had waited until 9.25am to do the preliminary test. I was flabbergasted over this. It is a long wait indeed. Afterall, my daughter's appointment was at 9.00am and we are still doing the preliminary tests! Imagine doing the prelims at 9.25am when they should have done it earlier than us,right? Her physically-challenged daughter touched my heart, actually. Even though she was very challenged, she tried her best to walk to the scales and so on. The best part - always with a smile on her face. That takes courage and I am really blessed by her strength.  What was surprising to me at that time was my daughter was asked to do her prelim first before the poor girl. That was a little too much for me. So, I managed to corner one of the nurses and told her that rightfully, the poor girl should go first simply because she was there earlier than me or anyone else in the room doing the prelims. The nurse looked dumbfounded but after some exchange of words ( I was very courteous , I swear! ), I had asked her to get the girl to do her test first before my daughter because that is the only right thing to do. Finally, the poor girl went ahead of my daughter to get her prelims done. After that, my daughter and I waited outside the door of the doctor while the poor girl was struggling to get back to the public seat together with her mother. I could see that both mother and daughter smiled at me and I nodded my head. It wasn't a big gesture but those little things that we can do for others would go a long way. Don't you think so? 

Personally, I think, people like the mother and her physically-challenged daughter should get priority when it comes to prelim test and so on. I could see that they really struggled as a mother-daughter team. It isn't easy for them and just because they don't come in nice fancy clothes, not-so-educated and so on, should they be treated any different?  I am balled by the human perception on the importance of our exterior facade rather than our interior and simple goodness. Today's incident just proves my point. BTW, I did see them ( mother & daughter )again at the Pharmacy Room as I waited for my daughter's medication. I smiled at them while the mother went over to the water cooler to get a drink for her daughter. I smiled at them again and nodded my head.  Imagine, we had finished our appointment much earlier, got our medication and they just came in later to try to get to their medication! The time at the clock was at 10.25am and we were done. The poor mother and her daughter would still have to wait for the medication. It makes you wonder sometimes....it really does.............