9.01.2005

what's in a word?

after two days of straight duty, i almost came home emptyhanded, with no pay from the hospital. and it's all because of my gullibility...or plainly, my stupidity.

at around midnight, one duty night, there was a man who brought in a woman with a posterior splint band
aged on her left leg. she was accidentally hit by his motorbike, while she was walking, and her foot, in turn, hit a big rock. the man told me he could have easily left the woman but his conscience wouldn't let him. plus, he was afraid his wife would beat him to death. i think this was the main reason he didn't run away.

after the surgeon explained to the man the procedure that was going to be done to the patient and an estimate of the cost it would take, he decided to transfer the patient to a government hospital. so, the bill was prepared and i did a referral letter to the hospital of their choice. when everything was ready, we realized the man left! the woman's companion informed us that the man left to withdraw money from the ATM. at the back of our minds, there was a big possibility that the man wasn't coming back. i gave him an hour and if he didn't come back, we're calling the authorities. after more than an hour, he came back, emptyhanded. he said all ATM machines in the area weren't worki
ng.

he asked if he could just return the next day to pay for the ER bill. he looked so desperate and i took pity on him.
and more importantly, i thought, the patient had to be transferred at once. period. so i told him to write a promisory note and leave his address with us, without checking first with the hospital director or from the higher-ups.

the next day, i told my sister about what happened. she had big doubts about the man coming back to pay the bill. oh no, if he didn't come back, i would be forced to shoulder the b
ill coz i let him go without him leaving an ID or his driver's license, just his word!

nowadays, a word or a promise doesn't mean much anymore. and yet, when this man pleaded with me and promised he'd be back, i believed him. was i gullible? yes. was i stupid? yes. but i had faith in him. i somehow knew he would be true to his word. i may have started to doubt him a little when he didn't show up by lunchtime, but i was still hopeful he would
be back.

i desperately wanted to believe this man was different from the others who would take advantage of stupid people like me. and he didn't fail me. he came a little after 3 in the afternoon, a few pesos short because that was all the money he had, but it didn't matter. what mattered was he was true to his word.

5 Comments:

Blogger duke said...

i'd do the same thing, don't worry. i also have the problem of drawing the line between stupidity and trusting.

Sep 1, 2005, 1:19:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yehey for both you and the man! You for still believing in the (inherent) goodness of man and for The Man for having palabra de honor.

Can you imagine what would happen to this world if we've all turned cynics?

Sep 3, 2005, 12:53:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's comforting to know that there are still people who honor their word. This should be the way life is lived. If I ever have to see a doctor for treatment, I would want one to be as trusting as you. It shows compassion. Of course, I would keep my word if the situation requires me to give a promise.

Strange. Being compassionate can be interpreted as being gullible and stupid by some and doing the right thing by others. For me, it's which ever way my heart tells me to go...

Sep 3, 2005, 4:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Kero
I am recommending this post for inclusion in CaT's Journey of the Soul ha.
Please check either in my blog or in CaT's Now What Cat http://cathcath.com to see that Journey of the Soul is about.

Sep 6, 2005, 10:20:00 AM  
Blogger kero said...

duke: yey! so that makes us two! =)

bugsybee: i'm lucky no? oh yeah, thanks for recommending this post =)

bayi: thanks for visiting my blog. i tell you, i could be really gullible...but in this case, i'm glad i did the right thing.

Sep 10, 2005, 12:47:00 AM  

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