Sunday, July 3, 2011

The Punch





There are reasons why doctors go to the gym. To the lay person we give the excuse that its good for the health and increases our stamina therefore makes us perform better at our jobs. To me it is all about watching  my feet running on the tread mill. The steady thump thump of my footsteps as I am jogging my heart to a monotonous music  puts me in a trance. Then comes the step machine which always seems like a piece of cake to me till I have passed the 5 minutes notch when a fire starts raging in my chest…..my legs crave for more n my chest always battles to keep up in between the gulps of cool water running down my throat.  Then a few minutes further I know I have to stop when I no longer feel the cool trickle down my throat. Water just hisses and evaporates in my chest ……my head seems light n I float off the machine and find myself gliding towards the rowing machine. By this time I am in the perfect state of mind….hypnotized….just what the doctor ordered. Thereafter I am oblivious to anyone around me save for the drumming in my ears…its voodoo music. I am reminded I am in Africa….no sorry South Africa. Where outside people, including my overseas friends, think people still live in trees and still bash women in the head and drag them off for a night cap. A place where lions roam freely and elephants are the means of transport. Food is wild game and leaves are the in fashion.
Then I see someone slamming a punching bag. I watch the biceps tense with each punch and I know it feels good. It feels good to be alive. Its nice to have a punching bag close at hand. One punch for the slow coach on the fast lane, wasted 10 minutes of my time to work.  One punch for the  lady putting makeup in her car….I know I will be checking her in A&E(Accident & Emergency department) soon. One punch for every arm hanging out of a car window…..they too will be coming to A&E . One punch for the guy talking on his cellphone while crossing the road…I did see him in A&E. One punch for the guy who always parks in my paid parking bay. One punch for the patient coming to A&E and refusing treatment wasting other patients time. One punch for every “F” word uttered by a patient. One punch for a specialist’s consult on the phone who refuses to come out for a patient. One punch for the specialist who came out just to confirm my diagnosis and wrote no notes and asked me to do his job as he is too busy with 2 cases in theater….when the A&E was busy! One punch for the lurking escort sneaking behind me every minute and not listening to the staff or guards. One punch for the punch on my colleague’s face.
Yes we all go to the gym for all good reasons.
We are doctors and we have to set an example to society and do no harm. We punch in the gyms and come nice and hypnotized by the Hippocratic oath to work.  …..to be a punching bag for others….IRONIC!

2 comments:

Ritchie said...

I enjoyed reading this blog post and could easily relate to your de-stressing strategy, as I have a punch bag in the garage which I use when I need to unwind!

Happy Blogging!

P.S. If you have time then you might like this blog entry: http://www.thelifethinker.com/2011/07/stress-stress-stress-stress-stress.html

Dr Q said...

Hi ritchie, looks like u have unravelled the biggest secret to keeping cool. Happy punching. :)