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You've got questions, she's got answers. Be among the first to read Elise Mac Adam's new etiquette guide.
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After the fact, one can joke about it, but don't let anyone tell you that a trip to the emergency room is anything like a party. Felix had a small incident in the park (minor, nothing remarkable in the long run) that triggered the occasion of Felix's (and my, actually) first trip in an ambulance.
It might be worth noting that an almost empty emergency room is something of which one might want to be a little skeptical, like an almost empty restaurant at 7:30 in the evening. It was a bizarre few hours spent with a doctor who seemed bent on being frightening or annoying (naming various syndromes Felix might have without really explaining things, asking me etiquette questions-- he asked what I did for a living and it was my mistake telling him--, telling my husband to cut out the salt and all other white foods, while he was at it, and generally providing a full year's quota of misinformation and upsetting distraction. . . which should be illegal in an election season, given how much junk is in the air as a matter of course).
Today we ended up going to the pediatrician to undo the fret that the ER doctor encouraged (the high point of which was suggesting that Felix might have a syndrome that in most cases requires no treatment-- Marilyn Manson has it and whatever problems he has have nothing to do with this issue). But I have to say that there is an etiquette to dealing with parents (and I wished the doctor had asked about something other than "paying for plates" at weddings). It is unwise to chide parents about their health when their kid has fainted. It is unwise to speculate about remote syndromes without explaining them. It is annoying if, when a parent tries to explain something you asked about, if you don't listen. I am not hysterical and I usually have a pretty good handle on medical terminology, so I'm actually a pretty good parent to talk to, and would have appreciated the benefit of the doubt.
So, grrrrrrrrrrr.
I'll be here with the Motrin.
posted by Elise at 4:35 AM
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