The Great Leveler

Leaving the hospital, and it was a beautiful day, I glanced back at the large institution known as Scott & White and realized I had been treated royally for one week. No, I did not receive a steak every night nor was I put on a pedestal. My opinion on every subject had no bearing on anything and my body was an open book for all to study. Not one person addressed me by my title and, furthermore, nobody asked my official title anyway. My four degrees hanging proudly on my office wall were not acknowledged nor even known and in fact, completely without value in the face of the present situation. I was a patient with a particular set of problems and the hospital staff was intent on helping me with those problems.

They were not interested in my past successes or failures, my family, my views on church music or anything religious. Nobody asked my political positions on the economy, social inequality, welfare, defense, intervention, the environment, or taxation. I never had an opportunity to extrapolate nor even express my thoughts on business, money, finance, technology, marketing, investing, index funds, or management. None of my musical or artistic thoughts found fruition during the week and aside from the time where I listened to music on my smartphone, I was devoid of musical sound (some of this due to being on pain killers I must admit).

I was there due to a problem and the goal was to fix the problem. Short and simple. Or was it? I became a human pincushion for every lab test imaginable and kept watching bags of saline drip into my system. Fortunately the nurses and doctors were kind, thorough, and demonstrated a great deal of concern for my improvement. Pain aside, it was a pleasant experience but not one I wish to repeat. I had the feeling that regardless of my position in life, the treatment would have been the same. Whether or not a person is famous, wealthy, attractive, poor, ugly, or anything at all, the hospital works diligently to help. Each patient is placed on a level that is primarily concerned with the care and improvement of the patient. This makes the institution called the hospital the great social leveler, and for that I am thankful.

The experience was humbling for me and taught me several important things: 1) each person's job is important from the hospitality services to the cooks to the nurses to the doctors and to the surgeons, 2) your education, social position, money, personality, and your values make no difference when it comes to the care you receive in a hospital, 3) your life is not really your own in that many people are affected by you and your health, and 4) between family, friends, and great medical practitioners, blessings abound in our lives and we should never take anything or anyone for granted.