farmdoc's blog post number 24

In the 8 May 2008 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is an article titled ‘Etiquette-Based Medicine’. These days I only read journal articles that relate to my work, or that otherwise interest me. This one is clearly in the second category. Its author talks about dress, manners, body language and eye contact as expressions of compassion, empathy, respect, attentiveness and overall professionalism. Right on, sir. We live in a crowded, busy, noisy, impatient, angry society. And I doubt that any of us likes to. Change is necessary, but we shouldn’t wait for the arrival of some massive tipping point in societal behaviour, because it’s very unlikely one will come any time soon. As individuals we can’t change some things such as overpopulation. But we should change what we can, especially by many small acts: thanking people for doing things for us, treating young people and children courteously, considering other people’s feelings and self esteem, maintaining eye contact, not littering. This list can go on and on, but hopefully you understand my message. If each of us did a couple of etiquette-based things every day, the world would be a better place. I have a cherished cartoon – of a massive crowd. And above every single head there’s a speech bubble saying ‘What can one person do?’