"The Smokey Clerk"

 "The Smokey Clerk"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr.MD

One of the things that I really loved about my Medical Clerk days was when a Consultant or Resident would send me to buy food at the smokiest places ever like Grill Queen or the ubiquitous ilk of the place in Monumento.

I would be starting my 24 hour duty this way , standing among the smoke , waiting for the thing to be cooked , looking like Undertaker emerging from the fog. And the smell of the barbecue would stay with me all through out the night.

We might be doing rounds , resuscitating a patient or taking history in the private rooms and all I could focus on was the constant smell of the barbecue that would be on my skin and clothes. It even made those around me hungry even if some of them were not being honest about it. Some patients would comment and I would continue scribbling on my pad to refrain from an answering , ako po yun. Ako po yung amoy masarap.

Did I harbor ill will towards these consultants or Residents? None at all because I was already prepared for this mentally. It is all part of the process to be noticed , to be favored or to even get a much needed rest from endless things to do in the hospital. Standing around waiting for things to be cooked is better than being grilled for answers that you do not know or have not been able to read on just yet. 

My problem with medicine back then was not mentally but emotionally. And I could have prepared a lot more for that fact but heck I lived through it. 

The reason I wrote about this is that you can now order Barbecued things without getting the smoke on you via Panda or Grab. And I was finding the whole batch of those clerks on duty at the hospital lucky that all they need to do is collect money and wait for the orders.  Oh well.