I got a call a couple of nights ago telling me that I needed to have a medical. I was a mite irritated because I had one less than three months ago in Zhuhai. This one was OK, or as good as it could be anyway for an overweight 54 year old rather partial to a fag and a drink. It seems though that as Zhuhai is in Guangdong Province and the university is in Fujian Province and er…..rules are rules.
So not having had anything to eat or drink for 12 hours I waited patiently for my Administrative chum to pick me up. Fujian University of Technology is in the outer suburbs of Fuzhou so it was a good half hour to the medical centre. I went through the usual routine that I rather like. Fill in a couple of forms and then go to a different room for each procedure. There’s the height and weight room, the cardiogram room, the blood taking room, the please piss in this pot room and so on. But then something new ! I had to take a psychological test. The questions were great. “Have you ever blamed someone when it was your fault ?” Well, what would you have ticked ? As I’m not a saint I clicked the oddly named * MILDLY* button. And “Do you ever put off till tomorrow what you should do today” I looked for the * OF COURSE I DO, DON’T YOU * button but it wasn’t there so I clicked the mildly button again.
As I left a nurse presented me with a plastic bag. I thanked her in Chinese ; three of the 20 words I know so far, and looked inside. In it was 3 Chinese cakes and a surprisingly cool bottle of water. And then I realised . They had given me my BREAKFAST. And very nice it was too. I think this practise should be instituted immediately in the NHS. It wouldn’t cost much and would be a lovely goodwill gesture.
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Ah yes the aroma of grilled bacon, sausage, black pudding and fried eggs wafting accross the outpatients waiting room. Just imagine the back room struggles between Kellogs and Nestlé for the NHS cereal contract. Seriously though this is a delightful insight into how different things can be.