A short story cherry-picked from a long visit to a doctor's office.
While scheduling me for a fasting blood draw the nurse gave me the usual instructions of 12 hours of nothing but water or black coffee before the draw.
For reasons I consider reasonable, I ask a clarifying question.
"Are there any of my regular medications I should avoid taking before the blood draw?"
I found the answer so astounding I was almost at a loss for words.
"You can take your regular medications. Just don't go crazy."
That is a verbatim quote. The mental scenario that would warrant such a warning gnaws at my imagination even now.
It has taken me far too long to learn not to take the bait when I am handed a setup line by a medical professional. My punchlines seldom land at all, and are almost never appreciated. Ultimately, the quality of care I receive is at risk of being degraded.
In this case I could not resist and thoughtlessly blurted the first thing that sprouted.
"I take my medications as prescribed. To do otherwise would be 'crazy'"
See? Not really funny and not worth the potential ill will, and as it was, it just hit the floor, inciting no perceptible response at all.
After further rumination, I think some variation on the following would have been more fun:
"Some of my medications are for 'crazy', so should I at least take those?"
Other more snippy responses that occur need not be mentioned, and could easily be imagined.
In closing, that was just one of many absurd interactions from one visit to one doctor's office, chosen because a faint hint of whimsy could be extracted from it, unlike the others which were just repetitive and soul-crushing.
I guess Doctor's can't help but be condescending and medical model.
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