Thursday, August 31, 2006

Close the window, please

Have you ever had a knife put to your throat? How about a gun to your head? Or have you ever had your head put into a head-lock and twisted? These are all very scary situations. I experienced only one such over-the-top situation (while conducting a personality-assessment blurb session in my "Open up the window" post).

Sometimes between the doctor and client there are wires that are crossed. And I don't necessarily mean trip-wires. There are occasionally wires of communication that get crossed. And even so, all of these wires inevitably lead to some kind of truth.

In the following I have changed only the name of the commentor, so as to preserve his anonyminity. (And this person, his dialogue and his actions, are in no way connected to anyone who is currently in the comments section of the "Open up the window" post). It went down like this:

1. K-Czar said...

"By the way interesting insights. I tend to take people at face value, but maybe with the a posteriori advantage of hindsight after reading your post, I would have to agree 'almost' verbatim. And I only use almost because even Einstein I can only 'almost' quote verbatim. Interesting post. Love it! So flic, what would this statement tell you:I parred the 18th hole in golf today, to win the game."

flic said...

"K-
You are a man who likes to pass the buck when you feel the need to do so. Yet you enjoy comradery with your fellow man. You are usure of yourself sometimes, but you do always come around to giving credit where credit is due. In addition, you are reluctant to believe what you believe, and so you tend to rely on established knowledge for support."


2. K-Czar said...

"Perhaps that is a more accurate description of myself than I care to admit:

(1)Can I move mountains? evidently I believe I can, I just don't have enough faith(?) to make it so?
(2)Do I know I have a secret swiss bank account, with more funds than I could possibly use? evidently I believe I do, I just don't have enough faith(?) to find the number?

If you mean physics or practical knowledge - I need to rely on established reports to either agree or disagree with them. As Plato would say the knowledge is there we just need to discern the 'wheat' from the 'chaff' - and one needs to refer to recognised authority and wisdom, in whichever field to be relevant in that field.

I have to pass the buck on when I need to (to those wiser and/or more knowledgeable), and I like to pass the buck on to budding young bucks or stags, to build them up (this is a metaphor and it is not sexist) my wealth power and knowledge would be as unlimited as that of the combined resources of 12 or 12x12 or 12x12x12 people regardless of their sex. Ask Bill Gates, Richard Branson, or any other corporate head.

I have no problem believing what I believe. How to apply that belief is another story. Perhaps better said how to 'harness' and 'apply' that belief would be a better definition of your word reluctance.Thanks! anyway - you made me feel on top of the world. If that is not high enough, that is my shortfall Lol!"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who must explain all the details so as not to be misunderstood. You like order. And you are always willing to find out more about yourself. Furthermore, you think there is always a way, yet you cannot always find that way. Finally, you like to be complimented, but on the other hand you recongnize that you have a weakness for flattery."


3. K-Czar said...

"Touche

who doesn't like compliments and flattery - I wouldn't have said I had a weakness for flattery, but maybe bot knowing I had said weakness is the weakness

No, on reflection I prefer not to be flattered. Compliments should be more frequent, they are edifying. Anyone complimented always tries better or harder at whatever one (in this case you) is trying to get them to do.With words it is almost impossible not to be misunderstood. They not only have different manings or uses, they can mean one thing to the speaker/writer and a wholly other to the listener reader/observer."

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who doesn't like to be proved wrong. And sometimes you tend to focus on what you want to focus on, at the exclusion of what might be more pertinent to a given situation. In addition, you are a person who will not admit to a particular thing if others in society look down upon that thing. And you frequently do certain things over and over again, no matter what the results may be."


4. K-Czar said...

"Tell me flic, which animal or sentient being is not focussed on what they want to focus on, at least part of the day. Even slaves and miners used to get time to themselves.You mean frequently as in playing golf (or 18 holes), as in eating 3 times a day, as in putting one foot before the other to walk?

And unless we are being totally humourous, you are totally out of synch on the not admitting to things. Did I not admit to being a believer in the days of Nero and Rome burning -and flic, Rome is still here, and so am I

So what do you have to say about what is kicking off in Gaza and Lebanon - Israel getting impatient for those 'territiries' they've been trying to conquer for millennia. Now there you really have a bunch of people who do the same thing over and over again no matter what the result"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who is easily angered, although you don't usually like to admit this. Also, you are sometimes quick to proceed and thus ignore data that you've overlooked. And you are a person who usually denies their own mistakes by referring to something in the past. In addition, you're a person who often likes to forget the practicalities of life by incorporating yourself into the larger issues of the day."


5. K-Czar said...

"flic - what is anger?
which data have I ignored?
Which mistake(s) have I denied?
Which practicalities of life?
And you didn't answer the question on the 'big' picture So you seem to be giving a rather accurate account of yourself and presuming (transpossing) it onto me"

flic said...

"K-
You are a person who doesn't know when to quit. Also, you are unable or unwilling to find out answers for yourself. Rather, you are a person who needs to be told what the answers are. In addition, you tend to imitate others when you find yourself at a loss for words. And you are a person who likes to be at the center of attention."



*****
And what do you think happened next?
[You MUST read the "Open up the window" post before making a comment here in the comments section.]

13 comments:

Dwayne said...

I didn't want to be the first to guess. I'm scared. Did he pack up his marbles and go home?

Anonymous said...

Flic,

Did he take a stab at roughing you up before he left?

Michele said...

Wow a stickey situation.

flic said...

All three answers in the above comments are good ones. As a matter of fact, they are all correct!

*****

This is what happened next:

He lunged forward and grabbed me by the throat, and started strangling me with his hands. Until I dropped the tape-recorder I was holding.

He let go of my throat and picked up the tape-recorder. And he turned around and jumped out of the open window (luckily my office is on the ground floor), and he ran away.

Fortunately for me, I have a secret second-recording device hidden in an umbrella in my office. So thank goodness, none of my recorded information was lost.

He was found two days later, sitting on the front lawn of a post office (where he apparently works part-time on weekends). He was sitting there on the grass poking repeatedly at a Transformer action figure with the wrong end of a stick.

(Mind you, he is a 36-year-old single white male from Great Britain. That is, this is not a child or teenager we're talking about here).

*****

Really, what I should have done was I should have closed the window much earlier. And towards the end of our talk, I should have perhaps come out of the role of doctor and started talking to him like a normal person in a normal regular fashion.

Anonymous said...

What ever happened to patient/doctor confidentiality?

flic said...

Anonym-
He was not a patient. He was a client, as I've said.

He is actually a pharmaceutical company salesman, (who also works at a post office part-time on weekends), who stopped into my office during one of his monthly visits to our hospital.

He overheard what I was doing with some of my patients, and he said to us that he wanted to try out a full sample of what was going on.

And I've been told that before he was found on the front lawn of the post office, he attempted to sell my tape and tape-recorder for a pretty penny!

Anonymous said...

It appears k-czar may have got his wires crossed, and got the wrong end of the stick.

flic said...

Q-
You're right on target.

Anonymous said...

flic, your whole site is turning into an innovative art project. Keep in touch!

flic said...

Lab2 (Christina, et al.)-
Hey, thanks for saying that! I will definitely keep in touch! There is always time to see a cartwheel in motion!

Anonymous said...

Wow - I must have missed something... this really happened? Yikes... in a lot of ways - he was obviously derranged and that would not be a good exercise with someone volatile. Glad you are safe, and that he is (hopefully) in a nice safe place for him -

flic said...

S-
You're a sweetheart! Yes, everyone is safe.

Unknown said...

Ooh! Wouldn't wanna be in that situation.