It is the day after a long weekend. Invariably, there are procedures to add to an already busy schedule, colleagues are on summer vacation and of course, there are many “action tags,” or “tasks,” or other likewise unreimbursed chores to check off the to-do list before clicking in the pedals for a pre-dinner ride. And so it was today.
Today though, Jack was visiting.
A good decision it was, to ask Jack, our nine year old nephew from Hoosier-ville, to accompany me for some evening errands.
I had forgotten the unabashed curiosity of a nine year old. Nine is indeed a good year for children–a sweet-spot so to speak.
After asking me if he could have my iPhone, in a test-the waters sort of way, Jack then asks me, Hey, John, do you like your job?
Yes, very much.
Do you cut people open?
Yes.
Is it gross?
No.
How do you know you aren’t screwing up?
Pause…thinking of something smart to say, I ask, “how old are you Jack?
Nine.
It took me more years than you are old to figure it out, and even then, doctors are not perfect, but I try really hard not to screw-up.
Hey John, can I see your iPhone?
Thanks, Jack, for making me proud to be a doctor.
JMM