During one of our 'paid' conversations or 'compensated interactions', Dr. Mercy took some time to reflect, probably upon his life, and share a bit of what he'd learned.
You see, Dr. Mercy kept a hectic or rigorous schedule. Upon any given week, he was performing three to four operations. Sometimes more. I have a feeling it was more.
No, the light shit doesn't count. At least a good eight hours at the table. And, on the odd occasion, nearly twenty. ER may be a bitch, but at least they've got excuses for their fuck-ups 'cause "You never know what's gonna happen."
So, yeah, Dr. Mercy had to be able to keep it up in terms of stamina and concentration. And a photographic memory sure helped.
In addition to his character, which was...
Fortunately, he had a sense of humor. Hell, once you reach a certain point, you have to have one. Humor is what you need so you can check and see... see if you still wanna' stay human for the most part.
At one point, near the end of our term, Doc M pretended to teach me something. I have a strong feeling he needed to hear it from himself. But I wasn't being paid to argue. And he wasn't being a cunt because of his title or whatever.
Doc M was teaching me something and, at the same time, reminding himself of what he needed to hear. Because, if he didn't listen, it was probably going to be GAME OVER.
To a Luddite, the explanation goes something like this:
You see, Dr. Mercy kept a hectic or rigorous schedule. Upon any given week, he was performing three to four operations. Sometimes more. I have a feeling it was more.
No, the light shit doesn't count. At least a good eight hours at the table. And, on the odd occasion, nearly twenty. ER may be a bitch, but at least they've got excuses for their fuck-ups 'cause "You never know what's gonna happen."
So, yeah, Dr. Mercy had to be able to keep it up in terms of stamina and concentration. And a photographic memory sure helped.
In addition to his character, which was...
Fortunately, he had a sense of humor. Hell, once you reach a certain point, you have to have one. Humor is what you need so you can check and see... see if you still wanna' stay human for the most part.
 |
| Laughter... |
At one point, near the end of our term, Doc M pretended to teach me something. I have a strong feeling he needed to hear it from himself. But I wasn't being paid to argue. And he wasn't being a cunt because of his title or whatever.
Doc M was teaching me something and, at the same time, reminding himself of what he needed to hear. Because, if he didn't listen, it was probably going to be GAME OVER.
To a Luddite, the explanation goes something like this:
If you run your engines full-throttle
like a hero
or
someone who never slows down
then don't.
*
If you suddenly
'take it easy'
You'll be lucky
if
you die.
What D. Mercy was explaining on a piece of paper, with a simple graph, was how the human animal responds to having their regular doses of adrenaline suddenly and drastically curtailed.
When a hectic life 'slows down', there's almost a predictable window of time within which certain problems are bound to occur.
From what the Luddite could gather, workaholics have a pronounced tendency to die after 'retirement' if they simply slow down. For the fast and furious, slowing down isn't good. Easing off...maybe. But abruptly slowing down can kill you. Really.
By the way, in order to make sure your body can stand, in one place, for more than 12 hours at a time, rigorous and regular training almost need be carried out with clockwork ritual.
Though starting late due to unforeseen circumstances, our sessions always ended precisely on time.
Okay...time's up.
Interesting lesson. I was an insomniac all through high school and still suffer from an inability to sleep regularly. However, I've never been the full-throttle kind of guy, more of a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kind of guy. Have always had huge respect for full-throttle types who enjoy what they do.
ReplyDeleteSome people are just hardwired for speed. As a slow-and-steady myself, I've been both envious of and annoyed by turbo-driven v-8's. Doc seemed to be concerned that any sudden lull in activity would be detrimental to his health. In order to cope with the transition, he was planning an open-water swim or something.
DeleteRetirement is a strange thing, isn't it. People should be phased out instead of that instant nothing to do.
ReplyDeleteSmooth transitions are definitely worth planning. Fortunately, Doc's track record for hard work and honesty meant that he was in demand. Ironically, that didn't sit well with people who would maybe profess a little too much to be his peers; things got a little nasty. That will be the last post in this six-part 'healer' series, the 'Sweet and Sour'.
DeleteMy friend's dad is an engineer, apparently with a really good reputation in his field. Now he's retired, he does consulting work and can cherry-pick the jobs he wants. He's doing quite well.
DeletePeople will always turn nasty rather than pick up their own game.
Turning nasty has never really been an option, though I can say that I've definitely had to pick up my own game... repeatedly.
DeleteThe 'Sweet and Sour' comes last; his is sweet despite their stuff being nasty.
Thanks again for stopping by.
My grandfather always told us to stay active because that was how he was able to go from a retired laborer to a geezer without having problems like heart attacks. He ended up checking out dude to a double whammy of Parkinson and Alzheimer but I swear had it not been for that we would still be going for our daily death march to the candy store and back.
ReplyDeleteYou kind of see the same things with old couples, when one passes the other generally shrivels and dies with in a year or two unless they keep on truckin'.
Sounds like you had cool grandpa. The one I knew gave up via Gallo by the gallon in the pre-box era. He skipped enough checkups to where by the time they found his throat cancer, it was too late.
DeleteI'm determined to keep my life-fire burning (maybe not always blazing) as long as possible. And probably without my wife. Got a lot to look forward to.
"And probably without my wife." I don't have a wife but the hubs will probably ride off into the sunset well before my expiration date. He is 2 years older, a smoker and despite being thin doesn't exercise. I am sure he will succumb the to typical heart attack or the cancer. Though it saddens me, I am optimistic that I will continue on with a the will of fire in my heart and not wallow in widowhood.
DeleteGoing strictly by the numbers, I'm pretty sure Wifey will outlive me. What she does with her time on her own is not of my concern. For now, we are locked in and have a family to focus on. Unfortunately, I hadn't read the small print that wasn't there.
DeleteWord of warning to anyone who reads this: Even as a legal foreigner in this great land of harmonious bliss, your status is precarious... the rights to your children are dependent upon the whims of a very capricious and highly dysfunctional society that is condescending to 'others' at best.
At least it's something to think about while I fill my basin with water every morning, ready to clean up the shadows that have spread across my face, and look into the mirror.