Retro Sighting

Those of us in the corporate world have had all the soul cast out of us by The Legal Department, or HR, or some other PC police department. It's very much like an exorcism. If you're caught speaking ANYTHING that was ok in the seventies (Watch "That Seventies Show" if you need a refresher course in what not to say) you can rest assured that local HR priests will appear, place their hands on your head and shout "DID YOU WATCH THE HARRASSMENT VIDEO?" Thereupon you will have earned your rep and it's a hard one to shake.

Yesterday, I couldn't help but smile when I visited the local hospital's oupatient surgery dept. Although they too have had large chunks of soul removed, their rules are mostly about forms and paperwork and HIPPA, which it seems a poor sick individual must face at least once a year for any possible professional medical service on the planet.

There were lots of dinosaurs in the OR. They now wear funny caps made out of real cloth with stuff like lizards and snowmen printed on them. But you can tell that scrub jacket...a wildly colored patchwork with a denim background...is straight out of 1979. I know this because my aunts and my mother wore this busy material.

So I smiled and thought "There's somebody not trying to keep up with corporate culture, but who will most likely listen sympathetically when I moan "Can I have another pain pill please?" and pat my hand as she says "no."

Although I don't wish to revisit the Women's Pavilion on Forest Avenue, it really did underscore the remaining differences between hospitals and corporations. I heard hospitals are getting more corporate everyday, and doctors are fleeing like their pants are on fire.

But I sure hope they don't implement a dress code. The lady in the patchwork smock was retro and not kewl. She's the one I hope took care of me, patted my hand and called me "Sweetie".

Any of which would bring out the HR priests for an exorcism.