A Wonderful Lesson from a Boy who Drank Kerosene

Kids say the Darndest things. Some of the things they say can stick with you for a lifetime.

Several years ago a three year old boy who I had delivered was hospitalized for drinking kerosene. He had come across and an old lamp at his grandparents house a taken a swig. Since kerosene in the lungs can be a serious irritant, he was hospitalized for observation at a hospital near his grandparent's home. The following morning a doctor entered his hospital room. He introduced himself as Dr. Soandso and was taken aback at the little boy's angry response.

“You no my Docker! I want Docker Barrett!”

He knew who his doctor was, and it was NOT Dr. Soandso! He wanted me! When his mom told me the story it brought a smile to my face. I thought it was pretty cool that he was that attached to me!

Stories like this are why, when I was interviewed by my medical group for a recent ad campaign, my answer to the question-“What do you like most about being a doctor?”was, “The thought that there are people living their lives knowing that when they need a doctor, I will be there for them.”

I think there is little in life that is more important than being there when needed. Being there for our families, friends and our co-workers is a big deal. It is not always easy and it demands sacrifice, yet it is something God wants from all of us, and it is incredibly rewarding.

In whatever role we find ourselves. friend, parent, co-worker or confidant, let is all strive to set ourselves apart as the one person others will look to when a need arises.

6 Simple Rules when firing someone

As with so many things in life, when it comes to letting someone go there are right ways and wrong ways to handle the situation. As someone who has done it both ways, I have learned some things about how, and how not, to act when an employee is terminated.

I have been a “boss” for 20 years, first as the practice manager for a group of doctors, and for the last 11 years in my own practice. There are many blessings that come with being a boss- The relationships forged with employees, the ability to say, “Thank you” in tangible ways, and the ability to support these workers when they go through difficult times.

There are many blessings, but firing someone is definitely not one of them. It is one of the most agonizingly difficult aspects of being a Christian employer.

Even when the decision seems obvious, I still struggle and wrestle with questions-

How do I still show love as a Christian? Should I give a third, fourth or fifth chance?

When does grace toward one employee lead toward resentment in another?

When do additional chances become enabling bad behavior?

Do I follow the advice of HR experts and just say, “It's not working out?” or do I give more information to allow the employee to process what happened?

In order not to repeat mistakes I have made over the years, I try to apply a few basic principles to guide me when the time comes to let someone go-

1- Ask first- “Have I given this employee every opportunity to succeed?” Give them every chance you would want to be given.

2- Sleep on it- Don't impulsively make a decision that impacts someone's livelihood.

3- Avoid Anger- It has no place. It demeans them and diminishes you.

4- Be kind- There is no need to tear someone down. They just lost their job.

5- Avoid Gossip- With rare exception, when performance is poor, other people already know. If you have done your job well employees will know you did not make a rash decision.

6- Pray for the employee- Before and after you let them go. God's love for them has not changed, neither should yours.

20 years of being a boss and I still struggle. Which might be a good thing. Donald Trump makes it look way to easy-If it becomes easy, I might need to be concerned about myself! 

Overwhelming Proof that Doctors are Stupid too

People think doctors are smart. People are wrong. I am a doctor, and my capacity for stupidity is ginormous. I can say with certainty that medical school did not make me stupid (although it may have helped) as my idiotic behavior goes way back. What follows may be the dumbest thing I ever did.

I was 20 years old and working in a supermarket stocking shelves, working on the household cleanser section, stocking bottles of Fantastic! Household cleaner. I turned and saw a young boy, probably 5 or 6 years old standing next to me. After saying hello, a prankster thought came into my mind. I thought, “he doesn't know it, but all of these bottles of cleaning spray come locked. They won't spray until you turn the nozzle to the open position! So if I grab a bottle and act like I am spraying him in the face, he will jump and nothing will happen! Then we will laugh and share a funny moment!”

Apparently, not ALL bottles come locked, for seconds later I stood mouth agape in front of a crying child who had just been sprayed in the eyes with household cleanser! I made a rush decision, and did the only thing my 20 year old mind could think of. I ran and hid in the back storeroom. No one had seen me do it...

I can only assume that his mom thought he was making up the story about an employee spraying him in the eyes (who would be dumb enough to do that!) and thought he must have done it himself. For all I know He could have gotten a beating when he got home!

I am now possessed with the fear that somewhere in America there is a blind man with a nervous twitch whose life was forever changed by one act of stupidity.

If you are out there- please forgive me.

Finally- if you are waiting for some deep moral or spiritual application to close out this post. There isn't any! Except for the age old instruction- “Don't be Stupid!”

Why Wanting Something Does not Amount to Anything

Sometimes people do really selfish things. From what I have observed some people do selfish things a lot. Do you ever wonder why? I do. As a matter of fact I found myself wondering this today.

As I write this I am on a family vacation in Hawaii (actually on Hawaii, the Big Island.) Today we made the over two hour drive to Volcanoes National Park to tour the Kilauea crater. Awesome. On the way back to our condo we stopped off at Punaluu, a beautiful black sand beach that is known for the sea turtles that sun bathe on the sand. Sea turtles are a protected species and the law says that they must be “observed from a distance.” As the turtles are common at Punaluu, signs are posted making this law perfectly clear. Well, perfectly clear to me. This apparently was not perfectly clear to the tourists who arrived before us, as they were all taking turns posing for pictures with two turtles situated on the beach. They were kneeling right next to the turtles, just inches away. I found myself asking, “Why?”

The best answer I can come up with is, “Because they wanted to.” That's it. They knew the law, knew the turtles were protected, but in that moment what mattered more was that they wanted to be near turtles and wanted that photograph. When push came to shove what they desired, what they wanted, was all that mattered.

It is easy to wag our fingers and criticize these people for the buffoons they were at that moment, but I think this character flaw is more widespread then we care to admit. How often do we ignore what is right or best because we don't feel like it, or because we just want to do things our own way?

We want time to ourselves, so we blow off our children. We have had a hard week and we want rest, so we skip church. We want to pay less in taxes, so we fudge a little on business expenses. We want to see a movie because it's popular, so we ignore the fact that the content is immoral and objectionable. We want...

Seems like wanting something is not a very good way to decide how to act. Just ask a turtle.

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The One Thing Every Girl Needs

Now that Christmas has passed, we can all be grateful that we will not have to hear "Santa Baby" for another 11 months. Not only is the song incredibly annoying, it is incredibly false. None of the items in the song are what girls need. A recent afternoon in my office made this perfectly clear-

Two 14 year old girls came in with their moms. Both had severe emotional issues and were in need of psychiatric help, and both were from Christian homes. They also shared something else- a father who wasn't involved.

One was a product of a divorced home. The other's parents were still married, dad just didn't talk. I asked the girl if she talked to her dad, and she replied, “He doesn't talk much, I have just learned to accept it.”

How sad. Even among avowed family men, too many dads think their responsibility to the family is to provide materially. That's it. As long as they don't cheat, holler or beat anybody, they are doing their job. If they drive the family car to church on Sunday, then they have exceeded expectations and earned extra daddy points.

Yet they haven't. Girls need a dad who is always available and engaged, even when they grow up. They need to know that they have a man who loves them unconditionally, who will be there for them no matter what, no matter when. The only way to foster that belief is by being there as they grow up, no matter what and no matter when. It is not always easy and it seldom convenient, but there is nothing more important.