Bedside Manner

I've never talked about the birth of my child here - and I don't really feel the urge to, but I think there is a lesson in it for me that applies to today.

Upshot - the birth went, as these things go, overall rather normal.  There were moments of straining, anguish, and of course exuberant joy.  In the end my kid came out and was perfect.

One tiny sticking point for me was my wife's OBGYN. He was a brusque man with about the worst bedside manner you could imagine.  He was rude, he was abrupt, he was not a warm or caring person.

He didn't interact with us too much until it was time for the actual birth.  He performed his task proficiently and the baby came out and it was all good.  Then, mere minutes after our kid had entered the world he asked to no one in particular "Did anyone see that Laker game last night?"

I had to laugh, this was a joke right?  No, he was serious and curious.  My wife piped up, "Um, is the baby a boy or a girl?"  That's right, he hadn't told us.

The guy was an asshole.

But, I found out later from one of the nurses who came in to Bev's room and chatted with us - "Yeah, he's pretty abrupt sometimes, but if you had had any complications, he's the guy you want."

It rattled around in my brain a bit, this guy, all business and no tact - had been right where we needed him when we needed him and had performed his tasks expertly.

Natalie had arrived a month early, so there was a bit of concern.  The doctor had stayed on top of her vital signs and in his own way, took pains to let us know that everything was looking good.  When Nat came out, she had her umbilical cord around her neck.  It was very loose, but there it was.  The doctor expertly extracted her from the tangle, all business, and just as proficiently prepared her for cord cutting - which I got to do at his prompting.

After Natalie had been wrapped up and put in her mother's arms for awhile, the doctor and another specialist examined her in the bassinet and quickly assessed that a trip to the NICU (or it might have been another room for early but not super premature arrivals) was in order.  He was concerned about her breathing.

Nat went to the other room, with me tagging along, and she was given oxygen and put under observation.  Everything as I remember, turned out fine.  While in that room a delightful pediatrician showed up and examined Natalie.  Everything checked out good.  The pediatrician was so great in her bedside manner, we chatted and by the end of the conversation I was basically telling her 'Great, you'll be Natalie's doctor."  Her charm and poise had so enraptured me, after dealing with Dr. Dickhead, that I figured she must be the best doctor of all time.

It turned out, that she was a very good doctor, and we took Natalie to see her for many years before Dr. L, let's call her, left the medical group we were in.   But really, she could have been a terrible doctor when I first met her, and I wouldn't have known.  She didn't do much to newborn Natalie, other than examine a bit, you know - stethoscope, etc.   I could've done the same thing and passed myself off as a doctor.

Anyways, yes she turned out to be very good - but it easily could've gone the other way.  Dr. Dickhead however, I knew he was an expert and great at his job almost right away, simply because he had a much tougher task at the time.  Logically, he's the guy I should've been praising and fawning over, but emotionally I just wanted to get away from him and chat it up with Dr. L.

By the way quick aside - when Natalie was back with mom and Dr. Dickhead checked in on us, he noticed the baby was mildly jaundiced and asked in what he thought was a joking manner "Whose Asian baby is that?"   Lovely fellow.

So the point of this rather long story - is that yes, that OBGYN was a bit of a prick.  But given what the nurses said about him, and observing his expertise in action - I'm very grateful he was there.

Would I have wanted a super nice and smiley and super friendly OBGYN?  Sure, but if there skill set was below the dickhead's, I'd take the dickhead, thanks.

************

And so we find ourselves with a president who has literally broke the mold when it comes to decorum.

He is brash, he is crude, he is impulsive.  He's a bit of a prick.

Oh by the way, the GDP is now higher than the unemployment rate for the first time in a hundred years.

400,000 new jobs.

ISIS has been decimated.

US Military, rebuilt and re-energized.  Morale is now sky high with the commander-in-chief enjoying widespread support.

Got Kim-Jong Un to sit down at the table - something all previous presidents have pined for and wanted, and were unable to achieve.  The results so far of course, have been less than great, but mad props to our Prez for at least making it happen.

A fantastic conservative on the supreme court and another one imminent.

Massive corporate tax cut (a great thing in my conservative mind) - and a decent tax cut for the rest of us.

Keystone pipeline - jobs over politics, practicality over emotional nonsense.

Paris Climate accords - a TERRIBLE deal for the US that was going to cost us literally TRILLIONS of dollars, while not holding big polluters accountable.  Now it turns out, our carbon emissions are still the lowest in the developed world, lower than any European country by far.

Obamacare mandate repealed.  So now you can choose and not face a fine if you decline healthcare?  Wacky.


And I could go on and on, but you get the point.

Sure, Donald Trump has plenty of flaws.

But if you look me in the eye and ask me - Would you prefer Trump through 2024 or a democrat?  What do you honestly think I, or any bonafide conservative for that matter, is going to say?

Trump's a bit of a douche, but he's kicking ass.  He is by far the most effectual president I've seen in my lifetime.  He doesn't just talk - he does.

I'll take the asshole thanks, don't need to go back to the American apologist, the lukewarm economy, the squishiness on moral issues.   Sure sometimes I wish Trump would cool it on the twitter, but really, it's very apparent at this point that he knows what he's doing and understands that liberals and never-Trumpers fall for it every, single, time.  That's why he keeps doing it.


I know it's hard for my liberal friends to hear this, but I think it's important.

The American people knew exactly the kind of man Trump was when they voted for him.  They simply didn't care.   They saw a doctor enter the room and take charge and expertly deliver the baby.  The last guy who was in here almost dropped the damn thing.

I'll take the jerk, thanks.