About 10-15 years ago, there was an internist who took night call doing hospital admissions. He worked from 5pm - 7am, and I was usually there from 5am to 6pm, so we encountered each other a fair amount toward beginning and end of day.
He was an eccentric dude (though a good doc), the type who tends to be best working night shift. He always had a large briefcase with him. Everywhere. It never left his side. No one but him knew what was in it, was never seen open. He took it in patient rooms, the bathroom, the doctors lounge... everywhere.
Late one afternoon I got called to see a guy admitted for a minor stroke. He was a retired baseball Hall-of-Famer. So I went in, and was talking to he and his wife, doing my usual neurology stuff.
I’d just finished answering their questions when Weird Doc and his huge briefcase wandered in to do the admission. He came in, set the briefcase down. I handed him the chart, since I was done with it and headed for my next consult. He glanced at it, then said “OH MY GOD! YOU’RE MIKE HOMERUNSLAMMER! CAN I PLEASE HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?”
He opened the briefcase. I may have been the only person on Earth (besides him) to have seen its contents. It was crammed full - and I mean REALLY full - of baseball cards. I'd never seen so many. All neatly arranged by teams and years.
He rummaged through it and pulled out the guy’s card from some year. And a pen. And a clipboard. and handed them to the patient. Somewhat stunned (I was kind of in shock myself) he signed it, handed it back, and the briefcase was closed.
Then he pulled his stethoscope out of his pocket and started business. "Thank you! So, what brings you to the hospital today?"
I'd love to know what that suitcase may be worth...
ReplyDelete"Can I please have your autograph before you go on with your stroke?"
ReplyDeleteOh well. Proves docs are human, too!
ReplyDeleteDidn’t trust Mom enough to leave the attaché case in her company for any length of time. He was well advised as the Mom baseball card stories are legion. Sadly, he was left with the obligation of toting it everywhere and working the night shift. His was indeed a cursed life.
ReplyDeleteWhat Packer said....I have quite a few baseball cards sitting in my attic theoretically belonging to my 40 year old son, that I am planning on "cleaning out".....however, they would require a foot locker, not a briefcase, so....
ReplyDeleteI get it! I passed my Wills-Koufax-Drysdale era collection to my younger brother and at some point it disappeared and I have major regrets.
ReplyDeleteNever throw away anything because at some time in the future it will be worth something to someone. At the Fair in Del Mar there was a collection, collection. Someone even saved all of the things her elementary school student had in his pockets for a year. Even that lint will be worth something to someone someday. My Mom threw away my baseball cards including the entire 1958- 1965 New York Yankees team.
ReplyDeleteA good friend of mine had a comic collection - some going back to the 1930s - and one day he came home to find his evil step mother threw it out.
ReplyDelete"I couldn't get your vitals from the hospital computer system because they aren't configured. But at least I have your height, weight, and batting average."
ReplyDeleteAw! I find this so endearing!
ReplyDelete