Versus

Every once in awhile, we are unfortunate enough to encounter people who are ineffably impossible.

Impossible because there's no pleasing them. They're trapped in their own delusions that they're always right and that others are downright wrong. Their flawed voice of reason is strong, perhaps outdone only by their stubbornness.

Most of these people are, from my observation, the aged. The kind of old guys talking loudly about nothings, smoking one cigarette stick after another, blowing stinking cigarette smoke from their nostrils like an insufferable exhaust of a decrepit automobile, unaware of the end that it is heading to. Or old shrews who go around like a fussy headmistress with obsessive-compulsive disorder, shaking fingers at the smallest of trivials and blowing their top like kettles on high when things don't go the way they had dictated.

Because some people are so narrow in their thinking capacity that when something goes slightly off, they're the first ones to point it out as a blasphemy - although it could have actually been another view which is not entirely unacceptable...

...or a necessary evil that could not be avoided.

Case in point: Last week I was tasked to perform venepuncture in this one old...fella, prepared with a slight reminder from a few housemen - "Pak cik tu susah sikit. Kalau tak dapat sekali, tak payah cuba lagi". When I realized who the patient in question was, I figured what the doctors meant by "difficult"; it wasn't the veins that would pose as a challenge to this hapless adventurer, but the fellow's personality. It didn't take much observational skill to note that this fellow might be of the inconsiderate type, with his radio on loudly and his manner of speaking and even of lying on his bed. (...I'm guessing now the identity may not be a secret anymore to my fellow ward-mates at the time?)

With whatever hope for a smooth procedure out of the nearby sliding doors, I approached the bed and told him the usual stuff. As I started to tie the 'tourniquet' just above his left elbow, he rambled about how students shouldn't be taking blood and it's a doctor's job and how the government shouldn't allow it and how he would've gone elsewhere if it weren't because of for what-reason-I-couldn't-be-bothered-at-the-time...to another patient, who apparently agreed with him.

I maintained a deaf ear throughout, focusing my eyes on the needle and the vein, my lips pursed tight, muting my tongue from uttering a single word of rebuttal, and confining my debater mode within the deepest depths of my being.

There was the temptation of deliberately keeping the needle poking him in longer, just to punish him with intolerable pain for that erroneous mindset, his incurable ego and his godforsaken tongue, or maybe just screw up so that he'll be treated to another dose of needle puncture more tormenting than my own - but there was this angelic voice of reason somewhere in my head (where have you been all this while!?) insisted that no, I must not resort to mindless violence or cheap revenge, professional people don't stoop to the level of ignorant imbeciles, besides shouldn't this be seen as an opportunity to prove that we medical students, who are scoffed at unjustly, are also at least as capable as the doctors when it comes to a simple procedure like venepuncture!

Cough. Pardon for the momentary idealistic intermission that slipped through...

So yes, I succeeded, thank dear God for that, smiling at the blood in the syringe as it was transferred into the plain bottle, not one minute meeting the eyes of the fellow (take that, ha!).

But, underneath the calm(?) facade, while the blood flowed impeccably into the tube, there was another battle raging in the chambers of my conscience; my debater part was slowly breaking free, keen to take control of my Broca's speech area, to deliver a parting speech. My conscience pleaded for a reconsideration, I was left indecisive. Then that voice of reason reminded me that it would be unwise to pick a fight right there and then, and that some people can never change when we use words, logical or no.

So I collected the things and left him.

The doctor asked whether I got the blood - was that anxiety that I heard? - and I nodded, telling her that "...pak cik tu ada la bising skit tapi" and briefly on what he had said. She asked why had I not responded, to which I said, "Tak pe la, takut gaduh nanti..."

Just to express it out, here is what I would have said if I had gone into debater mode:

"Pak cik ada cucu tak? Dia jalan umur berapa? Selalunya budak-budak mula jalan satu tahun...Pak cik rasa salah ke kalau dia dah start belajar jalan sebelum umur dia satu tahun?

"Macam medical student la kan...kalau tak start ambil darah sekarang, nanti bila jadi doktor tak tahu ambil darah, kan ke susah? Orang ramai expect doktor-doktor tahu ambil darah...benda macam ni bukannya boleh tahu tetiba je. Nanti pak cik jugak yang susah. Tu je la. Terima kasih eh pak cik..." End with a super sweet smile that in truth wishes for all the greatest evil in the world.

The point is: People can be unreasonable. The media and the public demand too much that it gets impossible to accomplish, yet they are quick to give judgment and to penalize. In the process of defending what they see is their right, some people get stepped on and the rest becomes the scapegoat.

They forget that things can go wrong. Wishing that things do not go wrong won't nullify this 100%.

I might be wrong to have thought of the above with my own brand of malice and holier-than-thou attitude. It borders on unprofessionalism, but really, nowadays in reality, fighting water with fire works only a few times. Fighting fire with fire might prolong the issue, but hey, you might end up somewhere, right?

Is it wrong to counter acid with alkali? Because it's called neutralisation, and neutral is good in such situations, don't you think?

...I hope to God I won't ever become one bitter harridan as I grow older...

Current Music: Live Like We're Dying - Kris Allen

Intermission #6

Some things are downright difficult to be put into words.

So I just finished my first week in Orthopaedics. Heaven Knows that it was a shock to enter the ward after a whole block of being away from the hospital environment. The stench that greeted us was by no means alien, which perhaps paled in comparison only when one puts it in juxtaposition to a certain odour we were made to accustom to during our O&G posting (which I shall not name here). Even so, some may disagree with my olfactory sense...

We have yet to enter the OT, which I suspect will be one heck of an adventure in its own right. So many things to do, and while ten weeks of Orthopaedics - minus revision & exam weeks - is undeniably long (nine, with one week already history...), the length is more of a mental and emotional perception rather than the chronological...

...I wonder if my leg muscles will get developed by the end of it all, though.

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Now playing: MINMI - Shiki no Uta
via FoxyTunes

Intermission #5

Oh my.

The break has actually ended! And despite my intention to read up on anatomy in hopes to prepare for orthopaedics...well, it didn't work much. Alas. But that was expected, considering that I was mentally unprepared to shoulder the task, with too much thinking on other trifles taking up too much of my time. That, and mending a broken heart ('coz biostats hates me. No kidding.).

Yeah, so much anticipation, mostly negative, for the impending posting. Haven't been to the hospital for _ages_, it'll take some time getting used to it again...

...And trying (in vain?) to find a safe and proper parking space. Yeah.

Oh God. *facepalm*

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Now playing: Sting - If I Ever Lose my Faith in You
via FoxyTunes

Laments of A Semi-Otaku

Warning: Emo-rage ahead.

I think my days as a semi-Otaku are numbered.

The sort of anime released recently have been, by my standards, average. Most have been adaptations from visual novels and eroge. While Suzumiya Haruhi, an example of the former, has been a worldwide phenomenon - for what reason, other than Kyon, I fail to comprehend - others have been so-so.

Taking example from the Autumn selection, my general impression would be cringe-worthy.

Very few made me intrigued that I went into research mode, like Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini, Kobato., Tatakau Shisho: Book of Bantorra, and Aoi Bungaku. Some tried to entice with a very dim light of hope, such as Seiken no Blacksmith (...what is up with that armour!?), Fairy Tail (Hirano Aya makes me go "...meh"), Letter Bee (what's with the loli?), Kimi ni Todoke (This turned out to be a pleasant experience), and 11eyes. Others made me rage (Miracle Train...what were they _thinking_, those sexist imbeciles!?), because they only relied on ridiculous excuse for a plot, cheap fanservice - abnormal anatomical proportions, indecent exposure, inappropriate camera angles - harems, and...females getting it on.

Really now. That's how I was reduced to an anime blog reader rather than an anime watcher.

Still, as I roamed around several anime blogs, it came as a nice surprise to see that the new Winter Anime list is already up.

Am eyeing for Durarara!!, Katanagatari, Nodame Cantabile Finale and Okami Kakushi. Some of the animebloggers said that the selection is more of a "quality over quantity" issue...Which may be good. It will allow me time to backtrack, to watch those that I've missed or had no time for before this.

Oh well. There's always manga.

As a side note, Sakura, I mean, Kishimoto, stop messing up with the plot already!! As if Itachi's death isn't good enough as a plot twist...I really should stay away from Naruto...

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Now playing: Fall Out Boy - Thanks For The Memories
via FoxyTunes

P/s: ...Will probably end up buying those Autumn anime that I wanted to check out. It's too much of a hassle to download or stream...

P/p/s: No, don't end, my break!! I don't want to start Ortho... *headdesk*