Saturday, July 2, 2011

Doctors Are Lame!

It wouldn't be an exageration to say that when my wife wants something....she usually gets it. It's not because she works at it. She just decides that something is going to happen a certain way. And low and behold it does.

So when she told me she wanted to go to Ravinia for the Maroon 5 concert I had little doubt. I called the box office the next day but there were no tickets left. Not even the lawn seats were open.

Days and weeks passed and I forgot about the concert. Until I got a notice in the mail. The professional staff office at my hospital was putting on event for all the physicians. The night included entrance to Ravinia, food and beverage, and lastly pavillian tickets to the Maroon 5 concert. All I had to do was return the card stating my interest and I would be given two tickets. Supplies were limited so I had to act fast.

I quickly filled out the card, added a stamp, and dropped it in the mail and waited. And waited. And waited. But no tickets. So I called the staff office. Three times to be exact. Finally I reached the person organizing the event.

They had received my card. But had withdrawn my request becuase I was not up to date on my professional staff dues. Supposedly they had been trying to reach me for weeks. Sent certiied letters and emails. Ofcourse I recieved nothing.

I immediately gave my credit card number and was promised the tickets were in the mail. The concert was in one week. Although I lived 5 minutes from the administrative offices, days passed and no tickets.

The day before the concert I was assured that tickets would be waiting for me at the box office. I packed up the kids and dropped them at their grandmother's house and set off for Ravinia.

We had gotten a late start and upon arrival found the parking lot was full. So we meandered fiftee minutes offsite and took a shuttle in. Our tickets were waiting as promised and we headed towards the tent set up for my hospital.

As we entered I found myself surrounded by people I hadn't seen in years. An ecclectic mix of physicians fromt three different hospitals. Ages varied. I chatted easily with old acquintances and enjoyed a good meal and a few beers.

Then it was off to the pavillian. Thousands scrambled into their seats to see the warm up band. But the real excitement started when Maroon 5 came on stage. I looked up and down at the seats around me. Mostly older physicians and their spouses but also some young people. The seats in our section were all reserved by the professional staff office.

As Adam levine stepped on stage the crowd rose and started to cheer. Ninety eight percent of the pavillion was on its feet and screaming at the top of their lungs. The other two percent sat quietly with confused and uncomfortable looks on their faces.

The other two percent were the bewildered physician participants who had been invited as part of our event. As the music started my wife and I stood up and began to dance. We stood alone in a group of fifty people. These fifty people formed an island of seated concert goers surrounded by thousands of screaming adoring fans swaying back and forth above their neglected seats.

Within minutes most of my colleageus had left the concert prematurely. The rest left at the end but missed the encore.

And my wife and I danced for what seemed like hours. Eventually when the show was over we left the pavillian with smiles on our faces and convinced that while Maroon 5puts on a hell of a concert, in general.....

Physicians are lame!

2 comments:

Randy lopez said...

Big fan of your writings and insights. Just read your piece, "apology to a colon cancer patient". I was treated at Keith Block's center in Evanston and I'm one of the lucky ones.

Looking forward to reading more of your work.

Randy Lopez

Anonymous said...

You need to work on your spellings, sir! Otherwise, great blog! :)