I can honestly say that I’m very happy that my son is not a surgeon. If he was, I would be very worried about his patients. Why? Well, let me put it this way …
A few days ago I started spring cleaning and asked Dieter to take the crystal bells off the chandelier in the dining room.
I washed the crystal bells, and then asked Dieter to put them back. A few things happened that prevented him from following up on my request right away, or even in the next few days, but today was the day that the chandelier would be restored to its former glory.
Dieter put some bells here and there and slowly but surely the chandelier started to look like it did before it was taken apart.
Everything went fine until Dieter said “Euh mom, can you come here for a second?”
Oh oh, I knew from experience that I was in for a surprise. Something I wasn’t going to like.
In the dining room I found Dieter looking up at the chandelier. I joined him and yes, the chandelier looked good again, all clean and sparkly.
Dieter had a pensive look on his face though, like he saw something he didn’t like.
“Yes?” I asked, “Why did you call me?”
“Look,” he said.
I was looking, and I liked what I saw.
“It’s nice,” I said.
“Nice, yes, but look at the table,” Dieter pointed down.
So I looked, and I definitely did not like what I saw. On the table lay six crystal bells. Oh oh, leftovers.
Dieter didn’t think it was a big deal. “The chandelier looks good as it is, a few missing bells isn’t going to make a difference.”
In that moment I was so glad Dieter is not a surgeon. Can you imagine … him … in an operating room? I can just picture it …
A patient going in for an abdominal procedure. Dieter cutting the patient open, doing what needs to be done and sewing him back up again, only to have the assisting nurse say … “Doctor Manero, what is that on that tray?”
“The patient’s kidney.”
“Shouldn’t that be in the patient?”
“He has another kidney, people can live with one kidney, he’ll be fine.”
Dieter, a surgeon … I think not.