I took my daughter for a pre-op at the hospital today. One of the weird things I noticed was the way some people think you're a doctor when you wear a suit. Not specifically asking me if I was a doctor, but looking at me in a way that suggested I might suddenly whip out a stethoscope and check their pulse.
A similar thing once happened when I visited a school as part of a site vist, where some kids parent assumed I was a teacher and asked me how they were getting on.
Suits have power.
We have a weird deferential relationship with doctors, in much the same way we do with plumbers. I wonder what happens when a plumber and a doctor meet? They probably immediately leap on each other and fight to the death, or circle each other warily at the very least.
God forbid a car mechanic were to walk in as well.
2 comments:
Yeah, or someone who knows how to do card tricks.
I used to have a Saturday job at a Homebase, perpetrators of officially the worst uniform in retail. There was a certain type of middle-class customer who used to lose their rag about this or that and clearly treating the kid in the luminous green outfit like crap was virtually obligatory.
Was always surprising how these guys would change their tune when the manager in the suit would make an appearance. It's not like he would say anything particularly different to what I'd been saying but suddenly it all seemed reasonable and acceptable to dissatisfied middle-class guy.
Working on the shop floor lets you into one of the worlds great secrets: people are rubbish!
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