Who's Your Pepper?

When I was five years old I was very, very sick and had to undergo some sort of procedure. I don't remember much except that there were a bunch of doctors involved. At some point one of them is trying to be nice, and asks, "Who is your favorite doctor?"

I'm five, I'm sick, I'm possibly sedated... my answer, "Dr. Pepper."

I don't remember anything about the procedure except the question (they all laughed at my answer)... and that when I came out of the room someone was waiting for me with a fresh, cold, "fancy" Dr. Pepper in a glass bottle.

Now, understand, this was at a non-profit pediatric clinic,since merged with a Catholic hospital. These doctors, most of them, would never see me again. Certainly, at five years of age, I wasn't going to be complaining about much at all. Moreover, at a non-profit clinic in the mid-west, they weren't being paid to run to the soda machine.

But they thought my request was amusing, or endearing. They stopped to brighten the day of a sick little girl, and in the process made their day lighter, too.

So, you say, isn't that what pediatrics is all about?

Yes, sometimes it is. But we all lose sight of what everything "is all about" sometimes.

When was the last time you stepped back, looked at what you do, and wondered if you're really giving it your all?

Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?