Placebo Journal is Worth Reading
Here’s a great website for healthcare humor: Placebo Journal.
You can also check out their blog: Placebo Journal Blog.
Ron
Here’s a great website for healthcare humor: Placebo Journal.
You can also check out their blog: Placebo Journal Blog.
Ron
I was waiting to turn into the exit lane of a very crowded shopping center two days before Christmas. Several side lanes fed into the main exit but cars were backed up waiting for the light to turn green. Once the light turned, I expected everyone to follow the Take-Your-Turn method of entering into the flow of traffic. Then, the impatient driver of a large SUV cut in front of everyone to get out of the lot. I could see him shouting something at the driver who was rightfully next in line as if it was her fault. And when he cut me off and I offered a frustrated “What the heck?” look complete with arms extended. He gave me the finger.
I couldn’t believe how inconsiderate he was to cut everyone off and then how rude he was when his inconsiderateness was questioned. How quickly the situation became a barbaric man-eat-man environment instead of a we’re-all-in-this-together cooperative environment. And I think the holiday season only exacerbates these already tense opportunities.
I wish I could tell you that when I find myself in those situations, I automatically call upon my finely honed sense of humor and whip out a funny line that takes everyone to their happy place. Unfortunately, I too have moments of humorlessness when I lose my cool (that presumes I ever had cool to begin with). In retrospect, those moments were never worth the reaction they conjured up in me.
Earlier this week, the postman destroyed my garbage can because it was blocking the mailbox. Instead putting a note in the mailbox or knocking on the door to let me know, he just drove off. I saw him before he left the neighborhood and rather than calmly asking him what happened thus allowing him the opportunity to take responsibility and apologize, I badgered him about his lack of considerateness especially after I had dug out a nice space for his truck in the four-foot wall of snow left by the snow plow. “How dare he smash my garbage can after all I did for him,” I thought but thankfully did not say.
In hindsight, I wish I could take back every coarse word and replace it with a witty remark or at least a civil conversation with this garbage-can-smashing postal employee. But unfortunately he had wandered into my emotional blind spot.
When I believe someone does something offensive or hurtful without considering the others involved, I immediately become defensive and want to set them straight. For some reason, I am blind to the fact that I am just as guilty of not being considerate of them.
Believe it or not, a sense of humor can be a great asset in situations like this. Duh.
Healthcare workers take on a lot of stress and most have blind spots. If a colleague, a patient, or a family member wanders into a blind spot, a worker can unleash a lot of pent-up stress creating a much worse situation than necessary.
So, let’s work together on seeing our blind spots more clearly. If I promise to breathe, to give myself an hour or two of processing time, and to try to find the humor in a situation before rushing in with both defensive guns a blazing, I am sure to avoid being inconsiderate. If you do the same, we might both find ourselves in a much better state of mind so that we can truly enjoy the spirit of the season.
Happy holidays.
Ron
In today’s USA Today, Kim Painter wrote an article called “Winter can be tough on the body” outlining how to stay safe during the winter. She recommended caring for your heart (heat helps blood flow), your hips (falling tends to break them), your hands (cold is painful), and your skin (dryness is problematic).
So, I thought I’d give you my top ten tips for surviving winter:
I hope these tips help you survive this chilly time of the year.
Ron
People always ask me who my favorite comedian is.
Historically, I have always responded quickly and confidently by saying, “Steve Martin.”
I followed him during the peak of his stand-up comedy career and I had all of his albums (flat circular items played on a turntable, a rotating machine that played albums). I could recite every routine from the Wild & Crazy Guy to the bit about writing a joke for a group of plumbers. Steve Martin, in my opinion, was one of the funniest and most creative comedians ever.
Today, I believe that Brian Regan is the funniest comedian around. He is clean, clever, and very smart. In a head-to-head competition, I’m not sure who would come out best.
Since Steve Martin left comedy, he has done just about everything. And while I have not been a huge fan of his overall acting repertoire, I did enjoy his earlier movies (The Jerk, Roxanne, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid).
Personally, I dream of the day that Steve Martin does stand-up comedy again. That’s why I will be front and center during this year’s Academy Awards show. I expect Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to be a hilarious duo and I look forward to seeing what I believe Steve Martin does best – comedy.
I think we will get to see comedy brilliance at its best.
Ron
A Jewish friend went to the Kennedy Center this week to see Handel’s Messiah. I said, “Why would you go to the Messiah?”
He said, “Hey, the tickets were free.” So funny.
I told him I could have given him the Cliff Notes…via The New Testament!
Anyway, it made me think of my friend David Glickman’s Jewish Comedy show. He performs this hilarious program for synagogues all over the country. The greatest thing about his show is how specifically customized it is for that audience. In fact, when David talks about the power of customized humor, he routinely says, “The more specific, the more terrific.”
You can see funny video clips of his show here: David Glickman.
In healthcare, one of the things that made my work so much fun was the “specific” humor that was all around me every single day. There was bowel humor, bladder humor, call button humor, etc. And the reason it was so funny was that we all lived in that environment and could really relate to it.
So, the next time you’re looking for a way to include some humor in a presentation, meeting, or with a patient, just remember, “The more specific, the more terrific.”
Ron
A colleague and friend Pete Bloom sent me this article. For anyone who thinks that their particular environment is void of humor, read this NY Times article and see how Tim Lee combined humor with an unlikely career in science.
Did You Hear the One About the Former Scientist?
Ron
Last week, I had the privilege of working with VITAS Innovative Hospice Care in Houston. They brought me and my presentation “Celebrating the HA-lidays Every Day” in as a festive gift to their staff and then extended an invitation to my presentations to some of the local healthcare organizations. It was a great day.
One of the sponsors for this event was Dignity Memorial. I was very appreciative not only that they sponsored my presentations but that they gave away, as one of their promotional gifts, gold-covered chocolate coffins. Talk about death by chocolate!
Now that’s funny.
Ron
When I travel around the country speaking to healthcare organizations, I always get the same question: “How do I use humor when I’m not that funny.” Well, for those few of you who really aren’t that funny, you should probably just hang it up and consider crocheting for stress relief. For the rest of us, it’s just a matter of tilting your head, looking at a situation differently, and saying, “Hmmmm.”
My friend Dale Irvin is very funny. He calls himself a “Professional Summarizer” (a registered trademark but I can’t find the R with the circle on it to insert here). You can check him out here: Dale Irvin. As a Professional Summarizer (pretend the circle R is here), Dale attends conferences, watches the other presentations and then summarizes them in a funny way. He is brilliant and his gift is the ability to look at the situation with a humorous eye.
In his most recent issue of Funny Business, he listed the “Stories You Won’t Find Inside.” I thought they were a great example of looking at current events with a skewed (humorous) perspective. So, here are a few of them:
If you’d like to get a regular dose of Dale’s humor you should subscribe to Funny Business or his weekly hilarious look at the top news stories called Friday Funnies.
Ron
Many of you have seen the personalizable e-cards from JibJab. I know this because you’ve sent them to me!
But if you’re not familiar with this amazing site, take a look: JibJab
The owners of JibJab (Gregg and Evan Spiridellis) have developed the most hilarious cards and movies on the internet. One of my favorites is Birthday from the Fridge.
I’d love to know your favorites.
Ron
I was very interested in seeing how President Obama accepted his Nobel Peace Prize yesterday. While Obama is a certainly a noble person, he probably has not yet lived up to the Nobel-ity of previous Peace Prize recipients. At the same time, it’s not easy to say “no thanks, I’m not worthy” to the Nobel Prize Committee. And let’s be honest. If any one of us had won this award, we would secretly do a happy dance whether we were worthy or not. Heck, I get pretty excited when I win $2 on a scratch-off lottery ticket. So, while it may have been a bit premature, congratulations to the President.
But in my humble, non-Nobel prize winning opinion, he missed an opportunity in his acceptance speech (full text) for a bit of humor. He definitely took the high road and acknowledge that there had been criticism of his receiving the award and acknowledged that compared to previous winners, his “accomplishments are slight.” However, I think he should have taken this one step further and used a bit of humor to show both his humility and his appreciation of that criticism.
All too often, leaders are defensive about how they are perceived. CEO’s want to look serious, powerful, and in control – even in healthcare! However, it’s the humble, self aware, and human leaders who also possess the necessary leadership skills that earn more respect. Qualities which, by the way, I think Obama possesses.
Humor is a great path to these qualities. For instance, when a speaking colleague was emceeing an event and was so funny that the dignitaries onstage lost their composure, he didn’t realize that they were laughing at his what he said. Flustered by this, but not knowing what was going on, he said, “I feel like the fifteen year old boy who was parking with a beautiful eighteen year old girl. He said, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing but I’m sure proud to be here.’” The audience burst into sustained laughter. He had recognized his discomfort and acknowledged it with a bit of humor.
This is a great lesson for all of us. When we’re embarrassed in public, caught off guard by a tough question, or have to accept an award for which we do not feel worthy, a little bit of humor will diffuse the scrutiny and show that we all experience these moments of human-ness.
Ron