Post-call + taking it on the chin

I'm currently post-call. I don't know why doctors have to differentiate between pre-call, call & post-call but they just do. My call last night was relatively good. Only had to be waken in the middle of the night once at 03:00 for fever which I should have dealt with early at midnight. That's all part of the learning process.

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I had a relatively long weekend. When I write 'relatively' it means that - doctors don't have long weekends like other professions. My long weekend was from Saturday afternoon to Sunday night, meaning I could go home and sleep overnight. I do what I normally do at home - eat, drink & sleep plus bake. Since my dad is away on business, I can get to cook dinner which I'm not normally entrusted with, despite being quite good at. I enjoy the cooking process - creating something that other people get pleasure out of. Whether it is baking carrot muffins or baking fish in lemongrass & curry leaves, I enjoy the end result. Also it was nice seeing my dogs around and playing with them.

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I was in the lift the other day with my supervising MO, a doctor friend of mine, when this obnoxious couple started commenting about her appearance. To give you a background I live in the most conservative society in the world where burns patients have more skin exposed than girls/ladies. This ignorant couple started commenting on my friend's dyed hair, dress sense, stockings & high heels. They regarded it as "inappropriate" for a doctor

Let me just say she was not provocatively dressed at all. My friend was not wearing a see-through low-cut top or a short skirt. She was not wearing red, three-inch, f*ck-me heels. She wears her make-up beautifully (unlike most Hong Kong ladies) and she has dyed her hair. She was dressed smartly But does this has nothing to do with her performance, her attitude or her professionalism as a doctor.

We could talk back since we don't a dreaded visit from the public relations officer, so she had to take it on the chin and just stand there whilst this couple continued their inappropriate barrage on her, just half metre away. There is always this phrase that the customer is always rights but it is wrong. Most of the time the customer is ignorant and doesn't know what he truly wants, whereas the business/service has a much better understanding of the customer needs. The customer is blinded by hearsay, rumours and dodgy advertising, so his/her view of perspective is clearly distorted.

We don't doctors in flip-flops, shorts and a tank top. But calling somebody inappropriately dressed when she clearly isn't may say something more about the caller than the target.