That's an interesting point, Turtle... but do we really have to have intent to be mean? Isn't there a sort of 'niceness negligence' that comes into play, if we simply don't care whether we're mean or not? (cf. the fictional -- and totally awesome -- Dr. House)
True story: I'm working, doing the tech thing, in one part of the ED. A guy comes shuffling down the hall from another part of the ED. He's cursing, loudly, and looking for the exit. He's annoyed because his chronic leg pain got him Ibuprofen today, and his his medical judgement he needed Vicodin. I'm polite; I drop what I'm doing and help him out. As we're walking (slowly), he tells me his tale. Since he wasn't seen where I'm working, I don't know if he's actually been discharged yet, and for all I know he may be getting what he wants, only later. So we go back to where he was seen. Sure enough, he's done, and he's gettng Ibuprofen only. So I walk him to the exit. He's more annoyed now, because I (inadvertently) showed him to be full of crap. I hear his mumbling and cursing slowly recede as he leaves.
Ten minutes later, he's back, and comes to my area again. Now he wants crutches. He got half a block away and the pain, oh the pain. If he can't get "his" Vicodin, can he at least get crutches? Knowing our docs are not mean, and further are not frickin' idiots, and having witnessed this gentleman's particular style of negotiation and conflict resolution, I know a few things:
1) He was assessed thoroughly, and if Vicodin had been indicated, he would have a script for Vicodin. We're not shy at the County.
2) Similarly, if crutches had been indicated, he would have been given crutches. We have plenty of them, and they're adjustable and everything.
3) It's not like we're holding out on him because we'd love to help but we can't spare the Vicodin. And it's not like we're going to offer him crutches as a consolation, the way a restaurant would comp you dessert if the steak is cooked wrong.
So, in a general and professional way, I tell him these things. I am polite. I save him another walk down the hall to where he was seen, because they will say the same thing. And he says,
"I thought this was a hospital."
...which makes no sense at all. Unless what he really means is, "a hospital is where you go when you feel bad, and they have to give you whatever you think you need until you feel better."
And so, as I'm walking him out for the second time, and as he repeats this line, I respond with, "yes, it's a hospital. Where there are doctors to check you out, and decide what you need, and then give you what you need. It's not a walk-in store, where everything is free."
Dude had no response to that. So: was I mean?
