Good morning! It’s 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 28th, 2025. It’s windy and rainy outside and it’s coffee time.
I may have touched on this before, but still…let the indefinite pronouns begin!
I can’t recall which HBO special it was from, but two things comedian George Carlin said have stuck with me from his stand-up acts, or “comedy lectures” as you might call them. I truly enjoyed watching George Carlin’s stand-up in the ’80s and early ’90s. When his material shifted to societal questioning and “seeing things for what they really are,” one thing, in particular, resonated with me.
Wait…I mentioned two things. The first was his famous bit about the “seven words you can’t say on television”—everyone knew it in the seventies and eighties, and it was a great conversation starter to try and add more words to the list. But the thing I remember most was when he talked about giving life advice, possibly to his daughter, to “question everything.” I thought, “Okay, that’s good, I can work with that.” We often get life advice from the wrong places, but I’m not saying George Carlin was the wrong person; I do take his advice to “question everything” to heart.
However, there are consequences to “questioning everything.” The first is that the person you’re questioning about a certain subject might not be prepared for your question.
Here’s a perfect example: my dog, Sascha, recently got spayed at the vet. We use a vet that offers a monthly payment plan, which we read over thoroughly and decided to go with. Sasha is very important to me; she’s expensive, part of the monthly budget, and I love her dearly.
When we checked in, we went to a small room, and there was a veterinary technician who is truly awesome—I adore her. As she was going over the procedure, I asked her a couple of questions. Question number one: “When will I get to meet the vet?” Question number two: “How come the cost of her pain meds that we take home aren’t included in the procedure, just like the anesthesia is?”
This poor technician was blindsided. She said, “I don’t… I…” and she tried to answer but had no words. She finally said, “I’m not sure; you might want to ask upfront about it.” Upfront, referred me to management, which can be like ninjas IMHO. I withdrew my question.
BTW – I had to ask to meet the vet doing the procedure again, but it was after Sascha’s discharge.
Here’s the glitch on this: in some cases when you ask a question this “chain” starts, they’ll say, “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about; talk to my manager.” Then the manager will probably say something like, “Well, you signed the form saying this; it was in there very clearly.” At this point, everyone is irritated with you and your question becomes a “complaint”. When you question everything, people get irritated because they’re in an awkward spot. You’re adding stress to their day, and that’s it. It also causes me stress to the point where I think, “You know what? I should have just never asked.”
Example number two is also from the medical community. It’s like, “Okay, what exactly is this, and why…” Let’s say you’re going through a procedure, and the anesthesiologist meets with you. You have to sign the little thing on the clipboard, acknowledging that they will bring you “as close to death as possible.” When you start asking questions like, “What exactly are you going to give me to relax?” and “Why was that chosen for me?” they’ll say, “Well, it’s routine for this procedure.” Then they might start having a tone in their voice of frustration, and they sometimes will carry that with them through the procedure.
<please forgive my rambling>
So, what’s this frustration then? The frustration is that you’ve interrupted their very busy routine. They want to come in, have you sign the paper, walk away, and expect full trust (and payment) from the patient. But they don’t truly trust the patient, because what you’re signing protects them, not you, in my opinion.
I’ve only met one empathetic anesthesiologist in my life, but most of them are like ninjas, they say hey and then you never see them again, or say hey and then a nurse will take over-if not general anesthesia.
I don’t trust the bureaucratic side of the medical community much, but I have to in order to stay well. Don’t get me wrong, I have some great doctors!
The main point of this blog is: if you’re going to “question everything,” be prepared for the consequences. Be prepared to handle the situation. If you question every little thing, even if it’s an honest question, be prepared for possible pushback and frustration from them. You may be asking a question that has nothing to do with their job. And, never ask questions you already know the answer to, that’s just putting stress on yourself and them…and not very kind.
In my humble opinion (this isn’t a true statistic), when I fill out forms for the medical community and doctors, I think they’re 75% for liability protection and 25% for “we’re going to take care of you,” at least here in the United States of America.
In closing, I’m feeling well now. Last week, I wasn’t very happy or anything like that, but I’m starting to feel a little bit better physically. So, to sum it all up, I leave you with this: remember, if you’re going to question things, especially stuff you sign, be prepared for people’s attitudes to change around you because they don’t know how to answer it, or they don’t want to answer it, or it’s not their job to answer, especially in the medical community.
All right, everyone, be good to each other out there. Love each other, try to accept each other the best you can, and eat a hamburger every once in a while, and maybe a donut. I will see you on the next Coffee Time. Be good out there, because it’s not as complicated as you think it is; it’s the thinking that’s complicated, man. Have a good one, love you guys.
P.S., I apologize. It seems I just needed to bitch about medical bureaucracy for a few. ok love you byeeee!
Mark