Professionals Are Scary
Doctor/Physician, Funny, Hospital, New York, USA | Healthy | March 27, 2022
Growing up, I had asthma problems and would spend an evening in the hospital about once every other year. I grew used to the atmosphere around medical professionals. But being bad at reading subtleties between “professional demeanor” and “serious case,” I became a joker. If I could make the doctor or nurse laugh? I knew they weren’t going to come back with a dire prognosis.
One year, I went in because of a suspected seizure. It was very scary. I had to run a gamut of tests and I was put in a room in neurology. The next day, the neurologist walked in.
Neurologist: “I’ve looked at all your scans, and I can’t find anything.”
Me: “Odd. I’m sure I had a box of rocks in there. Any idea where it went?”
The neurologist froze for a moment, turned, and walked out of the room. This left me terrified. No chuckle? This was seriously bad, then, right?
A nurse rushed in and came to my bedside, asking, “What happened?” I relay the events.
Nurse: “Oh, good. I just saw him leaning against a wall in the hallway covering his face and shuddering. I thought he was crying.”
Me: “Is he trying not to laugh?”
Nurse: “Yeah. He doesn’t like appearing ‘less than professional’ in front of patients.”
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