I guess it was my fault. I said yes all too soon. I should have waited for war, pestilence, or any of the four other horsemen to appear. Then again that is how we humans seal our doom. So I closed my eyes, clicked my ruby shoes and chanted, "There's no place like SM". There's no place like SM. Unfortunately I could not make the munchkins in the MRT disappear.
To anyone using the mrt during rush hour you probably know what I'm talking about. It was like being bludgeoned to a wall. You're stuck, can't breathe and you are probably standing in front of a guy who has never heard of a deodorant all his life. It was painstakingly for lack of a better word, lackadaisical. I wanted to get out. Heck, I just wanted to make it through Megamal alive which was like going to Mt. Everest as far as I can tell. So I decided eventually to take the bus. Moving at 1 m/hr, the bus was cool but still they never got rid of the cockroaches. I guess our society will never get rid of this vermin. Ten million years and we have nothing to show.
All sweaty and vermin free hours later, I arrived at my destination, SM Megaclinic.
They had a great office. It was air conditioned all the way but not at 730 in the morning which was about the time I arrived. After evaluating patients for pre-employment, I was fortunate enough to have an emergency case of Tonsillopharyngitis and Costochondritis. I think it's weird though than first day on the job and I have that effect on people--chest pain and throat pain. I mean I'm not really that terrible looking.
I was happily evaluating patients when I realized I was doing it for 5 hours already. 5 hours. Is this what having a job means though? I feel like a robot. Do you have any allergies? Check. Any history of Diabetes? Check. Hypertension? Check. Anything? Check. Slap me just so I can feel alive again. Check.
Then just when I was about to give up, I saw something that made my heart leap. One of my patients was given daffodils by his boyfriend just across the hall.
There it is. In that small gesture, the meaning of life. Of medicine. Of healing.
The bright yellow, almost golden colored flower that reminded me of why I took up medicine.
It was an epiphany.