WRITING 139: TRUST EXPERTS

I learned this bloody lesson from my dental surgery.

The surgery itself went well. My doctor is a gentle Taiwanese guy, dr. Hsu. He got my two lower wisdom teeth removed in 45 minutes. Except a little noise, he did not inflict much discomfort. Even that noise was not his fault, for I asked to keep me conscious instead of asleep.

What followed was an excruciating half day. Besides anti-biotic, Dr. Hsu also prescribed two pain relieve pills. But I did not buy the pain relieve prescriptions immediately, for two reasons. First, odd enough, I have never taken pain relieve pills in my whole life. This time they also seem unnecessary (I was deadly wrong). Second, I don’t completely trust doctors. Under our healthcare system, doctors have strong incentive to over prescribe medicines.

The result of my distrust cannot be more painful. Since noon, I had been in agony. I tried to distract myself by reading books, watching TV, listening to the music, and even sleeping. But nothing stopped me from felling that non-stop pain.

By the dinner time I had enough. I ran into the pharmacy, got the bills, and swallowed immediately. Ten minutes later, the world returned to peace again.

So here is the bloody lesson learned: trust the experts, even if they may not have your best interest in mind. Yes, they may abuse your trust; but the downside of distrust is even more painful.

Choose the less evil next time.

[20min: 2.20pm–2.39pm]

[NEW YORK CITY, SPRING, 2015]