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Dr. Love is the island's and
possibly the world's greatest authority on just about everything. The
Doctor answers questions concerning any subject except religion or
politics. Persons needing additional assistance or counseling should
contact the Family Services Division at
227-7451. You may write to the Doctor at P.O. Box 35, San Pedro
Town, Belize, fax 226-2905 or E-mail at sanpdrosun@btl.net.
Dear Doctor Love,
In case of an emergency after standard working hours, it is nearly
impossible to find a doctor on this island. This is a serious problem
that is worthy of the public's attention.
I have no idea who is in charge of public emergency services here or
if
any even exist but I do know that people do not always cooperate and have
their emergency between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. As a matter
of fact, the opposite is true. Doctors are most often needed during
public holidays and on weekends. This is the time when it is almost
impossible to find one. If you call 911 for an emergency, the police
still need to contact a doctor and they have the same problems as anyone
else.
It happened again this weekend and a life was lost that
could have possibly been saved. I know from personal experience that the
difference between life and death is often a matter of a few short
minutes. Just last year, a person bled to death and a doctor could not be
located then either.
Why doesn't someone do something about this situation? We have 10,000
people living on this island. It is ridiculous not to have an emergency
service system that works.
/s/ Experienced
Dear Experienced,
This problem is definitely worthy of the public's attention. It does
not
seem likely that any of the charitable organizations has the expertise
for a
project of this nature, much less the will to do it. If it is to be done,
it will have to be a coordinated effort on the part of both private and
public organizations. If the private organizations can get the ball
rolling, perhaps government could help.
So far, the local hospital looks as if it will never be completed. It
has been in exactly the same condition for over a year now with no
progress showing.
Ideally, we would have the hospital finished and an emergency staff on
hand at all times.
Wake up, people. The population here is getting too large for this to
drag on any longer. It is a matter of life or death!
Dear Doctor,
I have discovered that my husband is having an affair. It seems like
this has been going on for a long time because several people have hinted
about it to me over the years. I feel like a fool because I never
understood what they were talking about. It turns out that all of this
time they thought I knew what was going on.
I asked my mother why she didn't tell me about it and she says that
she
tried to but I just ignored what she said. She never came right out and
said that my husband was having an affair. All she said was that she did
not trust him and that I should keep an eye on him. One of my good
friends once asked me if I thought my husband was cheating on me. She
said she thought this girl was trying to get to him and asked me what I
thought about it. Since I had no idea what was going on, I said that I
didn't think it was true.
None of these people ever came right out and told me that they knew this
affair was going on. I feel like if they had told me, I could have done
something about it. I get angry every time I think about it. Whatkind of
friends and family are they, if they did not tell me about something as
important as this?
/s/ Disappointed
Dear Disappointed,
It sounds like you are angry with the wrong people here. Your
friends
and family did not have the affair. As a matter of fact, they at least
made an effort to alert you to the problem. The one who betrayed you is
your husband. He is the one you should be angry with.
Dear Doctor Love,
I have a very dear friend that has one problem that is going to
destroy
our friendship. She has a little dog that she takes everywhere with her.
I
have tried to tell her many times that I am highly allergic to dogs and
that
whenever she brings that dog around, it makes me sick. She always says I
am being silly and that I just don't like the dog.
One thing that is true, is that I do not like that dog and the dog does
not like me either. Over the last year, my allergies have become worse
and now it is to the point where my eyes swell up and my nose starts
running even in an open space with the dog, like a golf cart or on my
friend's porch.
I find myself making excuses not to go over to her house
anymore because I cannot stand being there for more than five minutes at
a time. I no longer invite her to my house because she completely ignores
it when I ask her not to bring the dog. I hate to lose a good friend over
something as stupid as a little rat dog. Do you have any
suggestions?
/s/ Miss Allergy
Dear Miss,
It is time for you to lay it on the line for your friend. If you have
to, do it within five minutes of when she shows up with the dog. Explain
to her that this is the last time you will be seeing her with the dog.
From now on if she wants to see you, she will have to appear alone.
Then, stick with it and don't change your mind.
Dear Doctor Love,
I work with a woman who is a very dear friend of mine. This woman has a
problem with perspiration. When she comes to work in the morning she is
fresh and clean. The building where we work is not air conditioned so
sometimes it gets unbearably hot. By noon, she starts to smell. A lot of
times she even goes home and takes a shower at noon but by the time she
is scheduled to leave work it has started all over again.
We have talked about the problem before and she finds it very
embarrassing but she says it is a physical problem and there is nothing
she can do about it. She has tried every kind of deodorant that is on the
market and nothing works. Some of them actually clog up her pores and
make her sick. She says she has been to several doctors and all of them
tell her that nothing is physically wrong with her. It's just that her
sweat glands function differently than other people's.
Have you ever heard of anything like this? Do you think there is some
kind of drug or something that doctors could give her that could make her
sweat less? Also, what do you think makes men attracted to her? I am just
as attractive as she is but when we go out, men always seem to be more
attracted to her. I know from experience that men like women who smell
sweet and clean. What is going on here?
/s/ Sweet and Clean
Dear Sweet and Clean,
Your friend has nothing to worry about. She obviously knows this because
she has already seen a doctor about the problem. She copes but she does
not seem to be worried about it; so why should you? Is it that you are
worried that men seem to find her attractive when you don't think they
should?
Here is some news for you. Since man first evolved, the sweat glands
have served as an identifier for individuals and a signal to other
humans. Until man's instincts were dulled by modern life and technology,
people could identify each other by smell just like dogs and other
animals do today. As we have adopted clothing, bathing and perfumes, our
sense of smell has diminished. Our individual distinctive odor has
remained but we are no longer aware of that odor because it is either
masked or washed away. This, coupled with the loss of our sense of smell,
makes odor less important in today's society.
Some people like your friend have a stronger odor than the rest of us.
Men probably find her attractive because they are reacting to an
animal
instinct. What they smell tells them more about her than Chanel Number 5
could ever say.
Dear Doctor Love,
In a restaurant the other night I felt like I was in the middle of a
bad
joke. When we came in, the restaurant wasn't very busy, but the waiter
ignored us as he waited on the other tables. After five minutes, we got
up to leave. He came over and asked us if we wanted anything. We had to
ask for a menu and then chase him down to order. When we got the food we
had to ask him for something to drink. The food was good but I don't know
if it was worth the lousy service.
I remembered reading something in your column about bartenders and bad
service. Doesn't anyone provide guidelines for the service industry? If
they printed a guideline maybe the workers could read it in their slack
time. Perhaps some of the ideas would sink in.
/s/ Disappointed
Dear Disappointed,
All right. Here is the Doctor's basic rules list for the people in the
most visible parts of our service industry. These rules are guaranteed to
raise tip income. Violation of these rules is a sure bet for a lousy
tip.
Waiters: (1) Acknowledge the customer immediately. No one likes being
ignored. Just a nod will often keep customers happy until you can get
menus to them. (2) Provide menus and water at the same time that you get
the drink orders. Do not waste trips to the kitchen. (3) When you take
the order, go over it with the customer to make sure that you have
written it down correctly. Few things anger a customer more than a wrong
order due to the waiter's carelessness. (4) After the food is served, the
job is only partly done. Check the table occasionally to see if the
customers need anything else.
Bartenders: (1) Acknowledge the customer immediately. No one likes being
ignored. (2) If the order is for a special drink, go over it with the
customer to make sure you are making the drink he is asking for. It is
easy to make mistakes with fancy drinks and very expensive for the bar.
(3) When the glass or beer bottle is down to 1/3 full, ask the customer
if you can get him a refill. Most of the time he will say yes. His tab
will increase and your tip will increase along with it.
All of the Doctor's Rules of Good Service are nothing but applied common
sense. Common sense is not so common around here. Perhaps in the future
the Doctor will expand on these rules for other, less visible parts of
the service industry.
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