Friday, June 26, 2009

How About "My Dog Ate My Reminder Card?"

Okay, I just want my patients to know that there are some good excuses to cancel your appointments at the last minute. AND MICHAEL JACKSON'S DEATH IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!!

So far today I've had 1 person cancel because she's too depressed over his death to make her appointment today, another who said he can't come in because he's too busy watching continuous coverage on E! about it. And a third who (somewhat vaguely) canceled "because of the world situation".

You people need a life.

26 comments:

ShrinkingDoc said...

Some things I find very hard to believe. More proof there is something wrong with their brains AND THEY REALLY NEEDED A PSYCHIATRIST, NOT A NEUROLOGIST!

I'm pretty sure, though not convicted, he's a child molester, people. Yeah, he was interesting in the 80's. We all grew up on Thriller. But he turned into a freakshow, OK? Get an F-ing life! He did himself in on Demerol. End of story. The world is a better place.

I have some anger issues right now. Sorry. Reading it over kinda cracked me up, though, so I decided not to delete. I need a laugh.

ER's Mom said...

I'd say that you were kidding, but I'm cynical enough to realize that you're not.

And THAT is the depressing part.

MedicMatthew said...

Seriously? You have got to be shitting me.

Unknown said...

My doctor friend, (psychiatrist) had 5 patients cancel due to MJs death.

Mix that in with Farrah's and Ed Mc's death, the entire world is crumbling. (insert near fatal eye roll)

"I'm too depressed to even get out of bed. I can't come in."

I hope your are collecting the office visit fees for no shows, like he is.

You have no soul Dr. Grumpy. MJ's death just means we are a few days away from 4 horsemen. Didn't you get that message from TMZ and Entertainment Tonight?

Rat

Uro*MA said...

Im glad none of our pts gave that excuse today.... i would have laughed... Have a great weekend Dr grumpy!!

Unknown said...

Texts I've received today:

Due to the fact that Michael Jackson is 99% plastic, he will be melted down into Lego blocks so little kids can play with him for a change.

and:

In unrelated news, child saftey is up 2% in LA County.

Julie said...

Everything going on in our country right now and THAT is what people are depressed about? Now that's depressing.

Anonymous said...

Farah died and went to heaven and told God she wished he'd protect children, a few hours later Michael Jackson died. There IS a God!

Anonymous said...

Too funny.(the excuses people come up with)

Anonymous said...

Too funny,the excuses people come up with.

pharmacy chick said...

One of my junior high school friends missed an entire week of school when elvis died. Give me a friggen break.

Future Trauma Nurse said...

The preliminary autopsy shows that MJ did not die of a heart attack, but of food poisoning he got from a ten year old weenie.

The Bus Driver said...

nah it was the 13 yr old nuts that did him in!

Fiz said...

I have to admit, I did skip my written driving exam after Diana was killed, but she was a young mother with young children, and so was I, and every time I thought about Diana, it brought those poor boys and I cried all over again!

Anonymous said...

I think these same troubled souls would probably have made it to their appointments were the deceased their own relatives. The obsession with celebrities is a pitiful symptom of egotism and denial of one's place in reality.
Too much tube will do that to a person.

Dragonfly said...

Oh dear. Shades of when Princess Diana died. Except even then they didn't publish photos of her tubed on a trolley on all the major broadcasts (well, the ones I saw anyway, but I wasn't trawling for grief porn* like some do). Celebrity or no I thought that was an invasion.
And re your missed appointments....maybe they need some "resilience training".

* when people watch news marathons about someone who has died and post excessively about how devastated they are and let their life stop (and don't turn up to neurology appointments that they ahve probably waited months for and thus wasting their time, their doctors time, and that of everyone behind them on the waitlist. You might know some people like this).

Anonymous said...

I am shocked and a bit horrified by the response to this whole thing. After dinner, I walked into the den to my hushand downloading a Michael Jackson song from his ipod (I think that's what it's called anyway - little thing that plays music) so that my daughter (3) and son (4) could listen. I almost lit HIS hair on fire. How 'bout some kid music here...never-mind the whole sexual abuse/freaky guy aspect of it. It's just WEIRD that people are affected AT ALL by his passing. I hate to sound so harsh about anyone's death, but give me a break!

R. May said...

1. Jokes about child abuse are never funny.

2. If my child was sexually abused by someone - I would kill them not settle out of court for an undisclosed amount of cash. Nor do I know of any parent that would.

Points to ponder.

Anonymous said...

R. May--lighten up before YOUR hair bursts into flames. Death isn't "funny" either, but we make cracks about it all the time, dude/dudette.

..and everybody does die. I'm not sure why it is a surprise when a cancer patient, a pathetic drug addict, or an old guy in his 80's dies. Now Billy Mays---another warning about the subtle danger of head trauma and an epidural hematoma.

R. May said...

Death happens to everyone.

Child abuse is nasty and horrific. It's an adult taking advantage of someones complete innocence and inability to fend for themself.

It's not a matter of lightening up, it's not a mater of being politically correct. By trying to make such things humourous it takes away from the seriousness of it. Kind of like joking about rape or a husband beating his wife.

I find plenty of things in life humourous - but not acts of rage and violence.

Anonymous said...

Sir or Madam--you have issues that need the attention of trained professionals. The more horrific the act, the greater the need to process it through gallows humor and irony.

..and yeah, that includes all sorts of horrors, like sexual assault. Sorry that you or yours were victims of abuse, but don't expect the world to kowtow to your sense of propriety. Life's bitch and then you die--deal with it.

Anonymous said...

Actually I was never the victim of abuse and neither have been my close friends or family.

I do not expect the world nor any random internet posters to kowtow to me.

I posted my opinion that those types of jokes are not funny. You have obviously posted yours that you think they are.

It is also my opinion that I don't think, believe or assume people who disagree with me need to be insulted, put in their place, or accused of needing professional help.

Anonymous said...

So now you are either changing profiles and writing style, or else you are reacting to information directed at a different poster. Puzzling either way. And I spot crazy for a living...

Qex said...

It could be worse - 12 people have committed suicide because of extreme emotion due to MJ's death. I do feel sad for them, that they felt they had no other way to deal with their emotions.

Many people calling the Australian crisis line 'Lifeline Australia' do so to talk about their difficulties in dealing with MJ's death, though there hasn't been a dramatic upsurge of calls.

Anonymous said...

maybe he's still alive, just like elvis.

erra said...

I think when someone we know (or someone we feel we know) dies, it puts a human face on death. It makes the inevitability of our own deaths more 'real'. Most death in the media is anonymous - people we don't know or personally care about, so we react on a superficial level. When it's someone we know so much about, it can be much more personal and immediate.
People aren't so much depressed about MJ himself, as the fact that the media is screaming death-death-death 24 hours a day on a level they aren't used to tuning out.

 
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