I Make a New Friend

[gamba]

Appointment with consultant ( Mr. not Dr.! ) in eye dept. at hospital. A full examination for problems caused by my poor blood condition etc. " I have brought only two pairs of glasses, reading & distance " say I. " What reason have you for other pairs of glasses." says he . I mention music distance. " Oh," says he, " And what sort of music & instrument might that be ? " I mention the 'cello & how I once helped to get a string quartet together. "How interesting, I play violin with an amateur quartet" says he. We then got involved in a deep discussion relating to music, composers, instruments ( & their prices ! ) - it simply went on & on. Heads appeared at the door from time to time & were either ignored or waved away. Eventually the crowd outside had had enough & burst in - two nurses, would-be patients & surprisingly, my wife, who has a heart condition & had foolishly been drinking umpteen mugs of strong coffee.

Eventually, realising ' enough was enough ' he started dispersing these people. As we made our way through the door he grabbed my shoulder " Your next appointment is officially due in six months " & then with a thinly disguised ' whisper ' in my left ear said " Let's make it three "

I have already made copies of CDs of the Boccherini op.32 quartets to take with me as a ' thank you ' when next we meet. How good to know there are such people around these days. Oh! while I think of it. An appointment has arrived through the post - barely 3 months before we have another session. Apparently, the other members of his quartet are all colleagues of his at the hospital !

[salymap]

Gamba, good afternoon and what a wonderful story. The most I've managed in that line is a nurse at my local Surgery who has helped with small computer problems.

[pastoralguy]

Great story! I once played quartets with a senior consultant in a ward where I was a student nurse. Seemed most odd, me playing first and him playing second fiddle!

[doversoul1]

Wonderful story, gamba, and I am very glad to see your post. I hope the consultant remembered to examine your eyes after all that excitement.

[amateur51]

Great story gamba - you have certainly not lost your touch!

[Nick Armstrong]

How good to know there are such people around these days.

Great story indeed, gamba...

Encounters like that, tangential to the actual business of a meeting, can make all the difference.

The course of my entire legal career was shaped within a couple of months of starting out as a young articled clerk, by the fact that I'd been invited to play in a concert of Vaughan Williams, the invitation being on my desk one day at work; a senior partner happened to come in and see it - turned out he was a huge RVW fan... an initial conversation ended up with me working with him for years in the kind of law I still do today (in contrast to the career abroad I'd had in mind previously).

[muzzer]

How civilised. And how unlikely to be repeated these days...

[Beef Oven!]

Appointment with consultant ( Mr. not Dr.! ) in eye dept. at hospital. A full examination for problems caused by my poor blood condition etc. " I have brought only two pairs of glasses, reading & distance " say I. " What reason have you for other pairs of glasses." says he . I mention music distance. " Oh," says he, " And what sort of music & instrument might that be ? " I mention the 'cello & how I once helped to get a string quartet together. "How interesting, I play violin with an amateur quartet" says he. We then got involved in a deep discussion relating to music, composers, instruments ( & their prices ! ) - it simply went on & on. Heads appeared at the door from time to time & were either ignored or waved away. Eventually the crowd outside had had enough & burst in - two nurses, would-be patients & surprisingly, my wife, who has a heart condition & had foolishly been drinking umpteen mugs of strong coffee.

Eventually, realising ' enough was enough ' he started dispersing these people. As we made our way through the door he grabbed my shoulder " Your next appointment is officially due in six months " & then with a thinly disguised ' whisper ' in my left ear said " Let's make it three "

I have already made copies of CDs of the Boccherini op.32 quartets to take with me as a ' thank you ' when next we meet. How good to know there are such people around these days. Oh! while I think of it. An appointment has arrived through the post - barely 3 months before we have another session. Apparently, the other members of his quartet are all colleagues of his at the hospital !

Where does the reggae fan fit in, in the hospital appointments process?

[gamba]

Is it alright for me to be mystified by your contribution ?

Wouldn't like to hurt your feelings.

Your friend in difficult times,

gamba

[eighthobstruction]

All he means (joke)....is that lovers of reggae or reggae musicians are unlikely to be able to find such friendship in a consultant.....there being so few rasta consultants to be found in the NHS system....

[Beef Oven!]

All he means (joke)....is that lovers of reggae or reggae musicians are unlikely to be able to find such friendship in a consultant.....there being so few rasta consultants to be found in the NHS system....

You don't have to be a Rasta to be a reggae fan - please take care about the use of stereo-types. I use them all the time, but it's best to follow the protocols of cultural Marxism

[amateur51]

Is it alright for me to be mystified by your contribution ?

Wouldn't like to hurt your feelings.

Your friend in difficult times,

gamba

perfick!

[eighthobstruction]

You don't have to be a Rasta to be a reggae fan - please take care about the use of stereo-types. I use them all the time, but it's best to follow the protocols of cultural Marxism

........ though Bob Marleys Lets get Together an Feel Alright might have some feelings about the NHS....

[Beef Oven!]

........ though Bob Marleys Lets get Together an Feel Alright might have some feelings about the NHS....

HeHe! There are a few of Bob's songs that have, shall we say, a slightly more than indirect application to our beloved NHS!

[ahinton]

You don't have to be a Rasta to be a reggae fan - please take care about the use of stereo-types. I use them all the time, but it's best to follow the protocols of cultural Marxism

You mercifully refrained from doing any such thing when offering your very welcome experiences of Jonathan Powell's Sorabji concert in Oxford a couple of days ago!...