Super Doctors

Cassie has had a nasty sounding cough and low-grade fever for the past day and a half. So, I took her to her doctor this afternoon. Here's a quick history of the doctor's office she and Olan go to:

From birth through age 18, I had the same pediatrician...Dr Bland. He was SUCH an amazing doctor. Most of his clients back then were middle to upper-class blacks who lived in the Northwest Atlanta area spanning from Peyton Road to the well-known Cascade/Ben Hill area. All of the black bourgeoisie in Atlanta had Dr. Bland as a doctor. Well, while Chris and I were pregnant with Olie we had to decide on a pediatrician for the kids. My first and only choice was Dr. Bland, of course. Turns out that he was still a practicing pediatrician, but only part-time, so we chose another doctor within his practice. Needless to say, that area has changed a HUGE deal in 12-15 years. Many of the aforementioned black bourgeoisie that used to live in that area are much older, and their children have taken up residence in upper-crust areas in Southeast DeKalb County, such as Lithonia and Stone Mountain/Snellville where at the very minimum you must own a few horses, and a few Benz's to fit in.

So where does that leave the doctor's office in Northwest Atlanta these days? It IS what it IS. A typical example was this wonderful conversation between a girl and boy two seats away while Cassie and I were in the waiting room this afternoon:

Girl: I know what you did, so don't even front.

Boy: What? I don't even know what you're talking about.

Girl: I know you gave that ho' those food stamps when I could've used 'em for the baby.

Boy: Whatever, shawty, you ain't see nothin' so shut all that up.

So, at this point, I just stopped listening and spent the remainder of their 15 minute conversation cringing. Then, about 15 minutes later, the same boy and girl (who, by the way, apparently have a child together, who happened to be sitting right there with them in a stroller) began arguing about what to give said child to play with so he'd "shut the hell up". Oh, and said child is all of 9-months old. I even saw the girl draw her fist back at the baby twice when the baby cried as he dropped the cell phone they had given him to play with. It was as if it was all she could do to keep from punching the baby in the face. I stared in horror, and she must have caught my glance because when we made eye-contact she looked away very embarrassed. If she is drawing up her hand in a fist toward a friggin' 9-month old, what is she going to be doing to this poor boy when he starts talking in less than a year? Dear Lord.

These are standard goings-on at this particular facility. Why do I continue to take my children there? Because you cannot find better doctors anywhere in these 50 states. They are among THE most qualified and THE most attentive doctors around. Your next question may be, why would such qualified doctors work in an area such as this? The answer is that they simply care about these people that don't have enough money for non-government funded healthcare and that use food stamps to buy their groceries. They don't look down their noses at these people who smoke, curse, and yell in front of their kids, even though these doctors themselves are in the top 1% of the most educated of all their peers of any race or income level in this country. No, they want to show these people that someone is going to always be there for them and love them, even if they don't know how to love themselves.

These are my kids' doctors, but they are truly MY heroes.