“Il faut s’éloigner des ânes, sinon vous pourriez braire comme eux »
(You have to keep your distance from asses, if not you might bray like them)
One of the most dramatic post-pandemic developments, which we are paradoxically experiencing in a society like the USA with quasi-herd immunity protection, is the growing and unstoppable escape of physicians, nurses, and patients to what we will daringly dub as “anything but our frustratingly obnoxious present physical reality.”
After so many months of exhausting work, incredible suffering, lost relatives and friends, lack of basic humanly contact, socio-economic repercussions, etc., we, the Health Care Providers have an extremely short fuse. Whenever we come across someone in our offices that repeats parrot-like the utter nonsense that the reactionary social media outlets vent about the lifesaving vaccines, we just tune them out. At the same time, those patients that are not satisfied with our clinical advice, do exactly the same, taking refuge in a virtual world of our own making, where we feel safe.
The recent announcement of Facebook, which is rightly taking tons of public and congressional flak for its irresponsible corporate behavior, that it will change its name to Meta is a harbinger of the big changes that are inexorable coming our way. The business-savvy executives of that company are engaging in a fuite en avant. Whatever the public watchdogs and the regulatory authorities are planning to do to tame that monster amounts to a ridiculously futile chase riding an old donkey. In a uber-capitalist society like the USA, there will be no substantial atonement for it. As Josh Brown, the smart commentator in the Closing Bell of CNBC, said: “Facebook will survive this storm of bad publicity because it has simply become too important for commerce. There is no better way for businesses to efficiently target their coveted segments. And its stock price does not swivel much.” Moreover, it has learned how to outsmart all its foes in Washington D.C. and way beyond.
In this crucial month of November, when we celebrate our birth a few decades ago, we seriously pondered the possibility of retiring from the arduous clinical practice and dedicating our full attention to the demands of Consulting and a Writing career. However, we decided to carry on as we still do have a passion for Medicine, fully enjoying its practice and the contact with patients and colleagues. However, we are training ourselves to escape to the Metaverse anytime someone gets under our skin.
If you visit us in Miami, you might catch us with dreamy eyes and a beatific smile on our tired face.
Our body might be there, but our mind is in a far-away beach, cuddling with a sweet red-haired girl.
Note. This reproduction of a U.S. Navy World War II poster was taken from Wikimedia Commons.
Putain les femmes!
Stay distant. Stay safe. Stay beautiful.
What do you think? Please tell us.
Don’t leave me alone.