Monday, July 23, 2007

The Hypocritic [sic] Oath

I took Dante to his pediatrician today for his 12 month vaccinations. When I was holding Dante for his exam, the Doctor asked me what was tattooed on my arm. Mind you, she has been his doctor since he was 2 months old, not like she had never seen us before.

I replied, "Oh it's engravings by Gustave Dore from Milton's Paradise Lost. It says 'Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven'. It's one of my favorite books and one of my favorite artists so I thought I would document it on my arm."

She looks at me and says, "Do you actually believe that?" to which I replied, "Well, in the context of the work itself it is an incredible piece but as far as the literal meaning of heaven and hell, no as I don't believe in either".

So she starts PREACHING to me about how my actions in life determine whether I go to heaven or hell and that Jesus this and Jesus that jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus. So I politely said to her, "Well thank you but we're Atheists or Non Believers but you should read the book, it's very good."

She then starts telling me about Jesus again and how I'm depriving my son of a good childhood because I'm not all about the jesus jesus jesus jesus jesus. So I change the subject and she abruptly cuts me off, says Dante lost 0.05 ounces in a week (we were there last week for shots but he had a fever and couldn't get them) and that she is considering that I may be malnourishing my child. Um, HELLO! Any of you who have seen pictures of my son can tell that 1. he's gorgeous. 2. He's clean and happy. 3. He's well fed. 4. He's healthy.

What nerve. I left there fuming and am now going through the book to find a new doctor.

No comments: