i am a stupid fool ??

“Dr. Raghunandan? I am very sorry doctor, calling you at the last minute. I could not fix an appointment earlier. I am a stupid fool and am in a big soup because of my stupidity. I should have listened to your advice and got that tooth removed. I do not deserve any sympathy but this pain is killing me since the last three days. Will you be kind enough to allow me inside your clinic and have a look?”
It was typical of Mr. Shenoy. It was closing time. Our compressor had been switched off and drained. Drills had already been cleaned and oiled for overnight lubrication. Instruments were either in the sterilizer or immersed in the disinfectant for overnight disinfection. We were about to call it a day.
Any one calling me at that time with a three days old tooth ache, would have got the following response from me.
“If you have such severe pain since three days, what have you been doing all this time?”
“I purchased four types of pain killers from the pharmacy doctor. I have swallowed more than a dozen. But the pain is not going completely. The pharmacy fellow says go see a dentist.” (usual reply)
“See if any more pain killers are left in the pharmacy, swallow them to night and see me tomorrow morning. It is too late for me to do anything worthwhile now.” And so on.
But it was not possible to be blunt with Mr. Shenoy. The way he spoke, and his very personality, made it impossible for me to give a harsh or sarcastic answer. I always gave in to his request.

Mr. Shenoy walked in after fifteen minutes. He went to the wash basin, rinsed his mouth and came in. He apologized profusely for inconveniencing me at closing time and added “this mining job is horrible doctor. I can think of my tooth only when it starts bothering me more than my boss. I can not return from work early because we work in godforsaken places and are at the mercy of the company vehicles to bring us back to civilisation. I could have come half an hour before if I had come here directly from work, but I can not bring myself to enter your beautiful clinic in my working cloths, carrying half a ton of iron ore on my person. I had to have a bath and change. Kindly bear with me.”

I heard myself saying “Oh, its alright Mr Shenoy. Do not bother. You are welcome any time. What is the trouble?”

He took out a tooth pick from his pocket, put it in his mouth and searched for the offending cavity. He located it and held the tooth pick there for my benefit.
“You see this tooth doctor, you have told me any number of times that I have to get it extracted. Being a fool, I have ignored your kind advice. You had said that it should not be filled. As I was unable to get it removed due to my heart condition, and since that is the only tooth with which I can eat, I had requested for a filling and you had filled it with some medicated cement. As you had rightly said, it keeps troubling me now and then but generally I am OK. That filling came out last week and since three days the pain is severe. Please forgive me for going against your judgment and suggesting my foolish remedies. But I feel better with the filling there. Will you please do a filling once more?”

So, Mr Shenoy, not only decided the time of treatment but also decided the treatment procedure too. And he did it in such an appealing way, that I could not refuse. Once again I found myself doing the filling that should not have been done!

“I would like to make a payment doctor. You have been very kind and I am very grateful for your service. You have such a smooth hand. I did not feel anything at all. I was expecting to be kicked out of the clinic but you have treated me so well. Now regarding your charges, please do not spare me. I request you to charge me heavily so that I learn a lesson and do not trouble you like this again and again”

Usually I have a lot of hesitation with my charges when I know that what I have done is not right or not up to mark. But some times I do act mean and charge a bit more for people who do not listen to my advice and bother me unnecessarily. I thought that I should do so now and said,
“Let it be Mr. Shenoy, please do not bother. I have not done anything worthwhile anyway. I will surely accept my fee when I do something useful.”