I've never been a huge fan of shots (either definition of the word). One leaves me hopelessly inebriated and tomato red (not to mention idiotically delirious), and the other forces me to behaviorally regress to age 5. I really hate going to the doctor. Most of the time, people hate going to the doctor because they hate hearing bad news, but I hate going to the doctor because of shots, and blood tests, and things coming out of my body through a tube. I hate the smell of the waiting room, and the velcro belt thing that they suffocate your arm with. I hate having to recount my menstrual cycle and sitting on those seat cover things that always wrinkle underneath my thighs as I'm waiting for the man in the labcoat to come in. I hated it when I was 5 years old, but I hate it just as much now that I'm 22.
I had a doctor's appointment yesterday originally to get some immunizations for the trip. Naturally, I want to take any precautions necessary to maintain good health while I'm traipsing around the globe. After checking into the office, and being directed to the waiting room with magazines on the coffee table reading, "How to be the Best Parent, Ever!," "Live, Now, Better!" and, "Home Gardening Tips," my name was called. I walked through the double doors and a nurse greeted me. She was very warm and friendly, and asked me what the purpose of my visit was.
"I need to get some shots for Malaria and Yellow Fever…"
"Oh? I don't think we offer that here…"
Great. I had made the appointment online, and wasn't told that this particular clinic didn't offer what I needed.
"It seems that you're due for a Papsmear though, as well as Tetanus & HPV vaccines. . .would you like to do that today?"
I consented, seeing as how I paid for my appointment that day.
She started clicking away and casually asked if I was travelling, and what it was for, and yadda yadda yadda.
Suddenly,
"Wait. If I get a papsmear… would it be with the same Doctor I'm scheduled with?"
"Yes, it would be him, though one of the nurses will be in the room with you. Are you not comfortable with that?"
"No…. not so much."
I'm glad I asked.
Anyway, after the check-up, I was seated in another waiting room to see this "Dr. Noda." My check-ups are too infrequent to have a consistent doctor, nor even to remember their names, so I asked the Appointment Center to randomize it. I was playing Fruit Ninja when he walked in, jovially, giving me a firm handshake. He seemed like a kind man, in his mid-40's. I sat uncomfortably in the patient's chair as he rolled around on his doctor's stool — whatever the heck they call it. He told me I needed to take some blood tests, some other random tests, and started asking me about why I needed Malaria and Yellow Fever vaccinations. Whenever someone asks where I'm going, I always say, "everywhere. . ." He then asked me if I was in school, and I told him I was graduating in June.
"What do you study?"
" (I hesitate. I mean, I'm talking to a doctor, here.) Art. . . and French."
"Do you have a concentration?"
". . .Painting."
"Oh? . . . You know I envy you. I was never the creative type. If someone hands me a blank sheet of paper and tells me to draw on it, I wouldn't know where to begin. I'm on the other side of the spectrum!"
"Ha. Fortunately for you, society deems your practice as much more credible."
He looks at me oddly, and then says,
"Well, perhaps in a struggling economy. . . but that doesn't make it more important."
I look at him dubiously.
He continues,
"I find art so important. Creation, beauty, and appreciation for it. It's a shame that because of budget cuts, children are being exposed to less and less of it. You should be glad that you do what you do."
At first I thought that he was just being nice and humoring me, but then I realized he was actually being genuine. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing. Some doctor who had spent twenty-odd years slaving away in school was edifying a wandering, jaded, art student.
I've really been struggling with this (especially) recently. I don't feel as though what I do is worth anything. If you're not studying to be a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher, or a businessman, you're not valuable and you contribute nothing to society. I know that's a lie. I know it because God is an artist. Our Creator is so beautiful that all painters for centuries until now could only mimic His creations. He gives us gifts and talents that are tailored to the individual — and they all function for a purpose. If we weren't purposeful to His Kingdom, we wouldn't be alive.
I love the way He chooses to remind me of this.
God's a comedian.
Now to make an appointment for a TRAVEL Clinic.
🙁
