Yesterday, Jeb and the girls were over here and we were talking about Dad going to the doctor. Jeb said that I should go with him because I would think of questions to ask that Dad would not think of. I agreed, but I told him he needed to tell Dad that because he never likes me to go with him. So, Jeb did tell Dad and this is the way he thought it would convince him:
“Dad, you should let mom go with you to the doctor because she is scattered and you have lateral vision. Dad, you are smart like a bee. You can put a bee in a jar and he will just keep butting his head against the side of the jar because he just sees the light out there and thinks he can get to it. But, a FLY, not the same. A fly is stupid and she just buzzes all over inside the jar until she finds a way out. So, the bee eventually dies, but the fly lives on.”
Now, I ask you blog readers, who is stupid? The bee or the fly? And, also, what do you do with a son who chooses to convince his dad by making his mom “stupid”?
A couple of corrections here. I immediately realized I was telling the story wrong when I got to the “stupid fly” part. The point of the story is that the bee dies because it follows one logical rule: “follow the light.” The fly survives because it is will try random paths to escape the darker side of the open jar.
Also: I said Dad will follow a logical, sequential (not lateral) way of solving a problem. Mom will approach a problem from many angles.
I screwed up the story, but I did not call my Mom a stupid fly, but she sure wanted to play it that way.
The point of all of this is that it today’s healthcare system, you have to take ownership of your own health. Doctors simply do not have the time or broad enough experience to do the job they once did. Having Mom go with Dad gets at least two people in the examination room who care and provides two caring points of view.
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……..
If I have a fly in my house, they seem to gravitate towards the windows. If they’re near the door sometimes I will open the door but it seems like you’re just as likely to get a new fly as get rid of the old one. If they’re near the window, I open the window and they quickly start flying up against the storm window. Then I close the window and they’re caught in the area in between, where they die after a while.
I think it’s good for Mom to go with Dad because women don’t mind asking questions and men are reluctant to do so. That’s why men won’t stop and ask for directions. Plus two people are always going to catch more and when the doctor goes out of the room might say to each other “Did you understand any of that?” and ask for a better explanation before they leave.
I thought “lateral” was a funny word to use, too. That’s what I thought you said. Sorry to misquote you.
Maybe you could lighten up just a bit.
That “Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” noise you made up there sounded just like a fly.
There are two kinds of bees I have had experiences with, Bumble and Honey. I have never killed honey bees but I have killed many a Bumble, which are the same as Carpenter Bees. I have also killed over 600 flies in my life time. I have noticed if a swing a tennis racket at a Bumble and miss it, it will fly away but a fly missed by a fly swatter will hang around. In this situation the logical lives another day and the random dies.
Hmmmmm…..