February 15, 2013

Trust And Respect?

Several things in the online papers today got me thinking about trust and respect. Both traits are usually earned, but are ascribed almost automatically to some professions.

I am learning, far too slowly, I admit, that it is far, far better to withhold both trust and respect until you are absolutely certain the person you think is respectable and trustworthy actually is. Even then, there are shocks and surprises.

Disappointment becomes a regular emotion as you start to wise up. New realities have to be created.

An example? I may have mentioned this before, but a couple of years ago I had to go to my GP for a regular blood test to see how my cholesterol was doing. I had had the blood sample taken by the nurse one week earlier, this visit was to determine how long I had left to live.

I am called (on time) to see Dr Fuckknuckle (not his real name, but it should be), and in I walk. He is already busy writing out a prescription. He "Good Morning's" me without looking up. I take a seat. "Bad news, old son", he says gravely, (he still hasn't looked at me), "You have a dodgy ticker. You are going to need this medication for the rest of your life".

"No, I don't have a dodgy ticker", says I.

"Yes. You do", he insists.

"Prove it", I retaliate.

"It's all here", he says, tapping the computer screen. Still without looking at me or the screen. I lean closer so I can read it.

"You have three problems there", I said.

"Oh yes? And what are those problems?", he asks. Finally looking up at me.

"Number one: I am not 84 years old. Number two: I am not Margaret Jane McDonald. Number three: I am male".

"Ah", says our shaman, "Wrong screen". He fiddles with the keyboard and my name pops up.

He glances at it briefly and says "Ah yes. That's right. You have diabetes". Out comes the prescription pad for some fresh activity, he scribbles furiously.

"No I don't", says I.

"Yes you do", he insists.

"Prove it", I insist right back.

"Consistently high blood sugar readings", he exclaims. "It's all here".

"Show me", I counter.

He looks, fiddles with the keyboard, mutters, then says, slightly triumphantly, "There!"

I look. "Is that it?", I ask. One high reading out of 8 tests over a ten year period?"

"Yup", he says.

I said, "One high reading is an anomaly. You need at least two consecutively high readings to even consider there is a problem. Test me now. If it's abnormal I'll take your damn pills, but I at least want to know you have it right".

He's looking a bit smug now, and he arranges for the practise nurse to give me 500ml of Lucozade to drink and tells me to bugger off for an hour. I come back to the surgery, give another blood sample and the wifey looks at the results. "All normal", she declares. I badly wanted to be the one to inform Dr Fuckknuckle but she won't let me. "He will be embarrassed", she says, "I'll tell him".

So I went home to let my wife spouse partner significant other know that I wasn't dying just yet.

A stupid story, I admit. But the bigger problem is this: How many Dr Fuckknuckles are out there? Dispensing serious medication to people too witless, or too in awe of doctors to actually ask "Are you right? Is your diagnosis correct?". And, given recent NHS outrages, we learn that they are killing us off. By the thousands.

The police are no different. Just the other day we were treated to pictures of a grinning cop who had killed a motorcyclist while she was chatting to her partner on a mobile phone. The biker just became victim number 1,464. These people all died at the hands of, in the company of, or just after coming into contact with....the police. Not one of them has faced charges over these wrongful deaths in the last ten years. We MOPs (members of the public, as they term us) are merely collateral damage in the ongoing war. We are obstacles in their way.

And what about those sportsmen some of us stick on a pedestal? Lance Armstrong, anyone? Now we have Oscar Pistorious charged with blowing away his girlfriend. I know, I know, we must let justice take its course but it is not looking good for the lad.

Celebs? The guy off Corrie, Michael Le Vell, was today charged with 19 counts of kiddy fiddling and one charge of rape. And slimey old Jimmy Savile, self-styled King of Fingering? If even one tenth of the accusations are true he was a very sick individual. Yet both of these people were looked up to and trusted and respected.

My own village copper, the same man I gave tea and biscuits to during a neighbour dispute, is awaiting court over his possession of 1,000 indecent images of children. He seemed like a nice, family man. I had to gently ask him to piss off when he showed up to get involved in the dispute. I explained to him the difference between civil and criminal law. I maintained that the dispute was civil, but, as he explained, he was a lodge brother of my neighbour, and he had to act. "Sure," I said, "But before you do anything unlawful, go and talk to your duty solicitor". He came back an hour later to let me know that the fracas had fuck all to do with him. Off he trotted. I assume (now) that it was to get back to his child porn stash.

Sorry for the ramble.

The point, if there is one at all, might be this: trust no-one. Especially if they have any 'authority'. They will lie. They will make mistakes. They will ride rough-shod over you. And they will be wrong. A lot of the time, they will be just plain wrong.

Hang on to that respect as well. Give it out very carefully. Be mean with it.

Because they don't trust or respect you. At all.

CR.

19 comments:

Captain Swing said...

The best way is to trust no one apart from your family.Every public servant from Doctor to Traffic Warden has their own agenda which most definitely does not include your best interests.

Your worth to the state is no more than the taxes they can extract from you and the money they can create using you as human collateral.Once you are of no worth to the state through retirement/illness etc its down to the national death service to finish you off in short order.Doctors are the front line in this process and the first stage is to get you on medication that supposedly extends your life but in reality does the opposite.The doctors of today are just sales reps for the drugs companies.When you walk in the doctors office you are just the next potential sale towards reaching their target.Its not how it used to be but sadly it is how it is in 2013.

Intruder said...

Interesting post. It reminds me of the words of Captain Jack in the Pirates of the Caribbean "....you can trust a dishonest man to be dishonest but you can´t trust an honest man to be honest."

Dioclese said...

Wife goes to doctor complaining of chest pains. They suspect a heart condition. Possibly angina. Possibly furred up arteries requiring bypass surgery. They scare the shit out of her. Just in case, they stick her in statins as a "precaution". Horrible bloody things! Terrible muscle pains. Mrs D says 'Bollocks to that. I'll wait for the test results and risk it'

More tests get done. We go back to clinic and see a different doctor. We tell him that she had humungous reactions to this particular statin. We'll try a different one, he says and writes out a prescription for the same one again. I explain to him (politely) that it would help if he actually listened to his patients. He gets cross so I tell him he's a twat and ask for second opinion. Registrar examines wife and concurs with boss's opinion (surprise!). She prescribes the same statins agin. We tell here where to shove the prescription and lodge complaint.

Fuck the NHS. We go private. Consultant says 'that's a hiatus hernia' and books a gastroscopy which confirms diagnosis.

Wankers. The lot of 'em.

Anonymous said...

Cressida (common purpose)Dick got promoted soon after killing that poor Brazilian chap!
Can I have your email address please I've got a funny pic to send you,
Paris Claims

Captain Ranty said...

Great comments guys.

I thought it was just me.....

PC,

You can reach me here:

captainranty at hushmail dot com

CR.

Anonymous said...

cap'n,

The reason we're all in the shit is because too many people have been trusted for too long. Good article. People seriously need to tap into their skeptic side alot more.

regards

Harbinger

pitano1 said...

hi capt.
i ask does it inspire our confidence to hear,that the very pillars of our society,are going to have their very own in house `nuthouse.at our expence of course.
i know beurocracy is a very slow moving entity,but its taken `how long`.? to decide-their could be some loony`s amongst these inbred numptys.

i nicked this little snippet earlier.

Subject: 635 Employees


Thought you might find this interesting ......

Unbelievable!!!!! Can this be the truth ??

I bet this will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Can you imagine working for a company that only has a little more than 635 employees, but has the following Employee Statistics.

29 have been accused of spouse abuse,
7 have been arrested for fraud,
9 have been accused of writing bad cheques,
17 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses,
3 have done time for assault,
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit,
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges,
8 have been arrested for shoplifting,
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits,
84 have been arrested for drink driving in the last year,

And collectively, last year alone, they have cost the British tax payer £92,993,748 in expenses!

Which organisation is this? :twisted:

It's the 635 members of the House of Commons.
regards.
pitano1


Christopher - Conservative Perspective said...

As one of my heroes, Ronald Reagan, would say often; "Trust but verify".

As to respect, well most know (maybe not "most" anymore) respect has to be earned.

Anonymous said...

Mon Capitaine,

I think I once mentioned an attempt by my local Big Pharma sales rep to get me on pills of some sort, after a blood pressure reading that was considered "too high". This amused me, considering it was one of the lowest readings I'd ever had, and of course the doc could verify this more quickly than I could, as my medical history was on the screen in front of him.

I've shared that bit before though. One thing I haven't said is that a while back, while still uninformed and asleep, I did go on medication for blood pressure. It was another medication that, once you start taking it, you aren't supposed to stop. And I did so for several years with only a slight dip in the reading over that time. When I wised up, I changed my diet and stopped taking the pills. Next check up? A reading that was much lower than those during the years when I was on the pills. The main dietary change was massive reductions in processed food. I continued smoking the entire time. :-D

And 'twas only later that I found out the pills contained fluoride. Trust? Never again.

The reading I refer to in the first paragraph was about the same as that one, yet it's now considered high; they appear to be altering the levels as they have done with cholesterol (that used to be 5, now 4, IIRC). What was considered perfectly normal 10/15 years ago is now "risky", and DRUGS are needed.

Pffft.

Let's not forget that Lipitor/Atorvastatin is the highest selling prescription drug in history, making a cumulative $130 billion in the 15 years of its patent. It's bad enough that the NHS punts these pills onto everyone as it is; it wastes £27 million a month using non-generic ones.

Statins, schmatins:

"Historically, profit overshadows truth. The same is true with the statin drugs. You rarely hear the truth about the safety and efficacy of them. Instead, you hear “market hype” geared toward healthy people who have abundant and safe cholesterol levels. Looking beyond the hype (as hard as it is) we find that high cholesterol can increase longevity and that statin drugs provide little to no benefit while risking the health of users."

"The Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial-Lipid Lowering Arm (ASCOT-LLA) trial, designed to identify the benefits of Lipitor (atorvastatin), showed 0% reduction in absolute total mortality rates among users."

"The only thing statin drug trials have proven is that statin drugs lower cholesterol by inhibiting an enzyme known as HMG-CoA-Reductase. Regardless of their ability to lower cholesterol, they failed to show that this effect has any benefit to preventing early death from heart disease, heart attack or stroke."

"Among healthy people, statin drugs do not prevent early death from heart disease, despite their cholesterol-lowering effects. This is because there is no correlation or relationship between low cholesterol and the progression of atherosclerosis – the number one cause of heart disease."

"Statin drugs also attack focus and memory. Because cholesterol works to ensure the integrity of the myelin sheath (responsible for carrying electrical messages throughout the brain for memory and focus), a logical hypothesis is that lowering it can have a negative impact on memory and focus."

"The statin craze serves as a terrific example of how a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous. Nowhere in the history of man has an acknowledged poison been touted as a daily vitamin for every man, woman and child. The scientific community should be proud. Statins are the best selling drug of all time."

A few selections from Hidden Truth of Cholesterol Lowering Drugs.

Regards

TSL

Dave Allison said...

November I am suddenly a Diabetic - Oh God I am dying - I must start a war, who with ? Everyone.

Few months being alive - DIET getting FIT - eye tests dammed good -
NO I am not taking the ZYKLON B pills ..........
I DO GET VIAGRA and asked the Lady Doctor [45} to double the doze.
She wouldnt but gave me a wink.
....oops meant wank....

Dave Allison's
The WAR on The Government of SCOTLAND

http://www.daveallison.org/

Cunts are surrounded by TAXPAYERS
and will capitulate in the morning

James Higham said...

Did one on trust and respect myself - it's everything really.

Dave said...

My doctor-diagnosis of kidney stones turned out to be three damaged disks in my lower spine (one herniated). Fuckwit had me carrying on working thinking I was going to (eventually) pass the stones but instead it cost me a whole seasons work (self employed). I ended up bedridden for three months and crippled for another nine. Fortunately I'm getting over it all - no thanks to Dr fuckwit. Complaint procedure found him to be totally non responsible for the error. And did I qualify for any benefits whilst missing work? Did I fuck. 37 years paying in - fuck all out. Sounds about right for an indigenous member of this poxy country.

Pavlov's Cat said...

as always Cui Bono

Have a look at Link QOF

GP's receive extra money for doing 'stuff' for people on certain 'disease registers'

As always the Road to Hell etc.... QOF was brought in to stop GP's dumping 'expensive patients' The really sick ones. ( GP's get paid £80 per year per patient on their list whether they attend the surgery or not)

Now it is a money making exercise. A GP surgery hitting all it's QOF points can make £90,000 extra per year

Anonymous said...

Spot on Cap'n.

My Mrs had terrible chest pains following a severe flu a few years ago, she could hardly breath.

Our TWAT of a doctor removed his head from his own arse long enough to examine her, (from 6 feet away) from his fuckin chair without even raising a perfectly manicured finger (TWAT) and pronounced 'a pulled muscle', wanker.

She continued to deteriorate so i rang the Keydoc surgery at the local hospital, explained the symptoms to a proper Indian doctor who surprise surprise wasn't up his own arse, who suggested over the phone it sounds like Pleurisy, bring her in, sure enough it was, an hour later and she's on anti biotics.

For fucks sake, this decent Indian stick knew it was Pleurisy from my decription over the phone, the other twat needed in the words of my late and missed Irish mother, 'a bloody good kick up in the arse'.

Too bloody late though, every time she gets a bad cold it goes straight to her now weakened lungs.

We obviously changed surgeries, along with hundreds of others.

I should have punched the smug bastard.

Regards

Judd


madasahatter said...

had a dose of food poisoning recently ,self inflicted though (was advised to sue myself)when i visited said quack whom i have never seen before as my last visit was at least 20 years ago .
all he was interested in was giving me a flue jab i said no thanks he seemed a bit peeved at this i wonder why did he miss out on a bonus ,me thinks

Dailyhammer said...

I am not sure if you picked up on this about Chris Davies MEP.

Firstly in the Daily Mail regarding the refrigerant used in car air conditioning systems. Daimler are refusing to use at it is highly flamable
and produces highly corrosive gas (hydrogen fluoride it even attacks glass!). So what was the massive tools response.

To quote the DM.


Liberal MEP Chris Davies told European magazine EurActive that the firm was trying to 'frustrate' the directive's ambitions: 'Daimler are evil and I think their CEO should be summoned to the European parliament and humiliated.'

He said: 'Daimler has apparently discovered that HFO-1234yf is flammable. Well so are petrol, oil and diesel. Of course it's flammable if you shove a flame thrower under it, which is more or less the test that Daimler is said to have carried out.'

How do you even reason with that kind of logic. Firstly he behaves like a petulent child "Daimler are evil" what does this even mean. No the NHS is evil and dangerous
Again distorting the true meaning of the words. By his reasoning if something is dangerous then there should be no problem making it more dangerous, in that case why don't you just remove air bags and seat belts from cars as they add weight and increase green house emissions which the man is obsessed with.

On top of the fact he obviously has learning difficulties I found this gem.

http://jobs.euractiv.com/job/parliamentary-assistant-chris-davies-mep-15980

To quote

He / she will also be expected to provide support to the lead assistant in Brussels as well as to liaise with the UK office regarding media, casework and other issues
that affect the constituency, and - as and when necessary - to sort out domestic problems such as floods in Chris' apartment!

To sort out domestic problems - Is this for fucking real?????????? We are paying for someone to sort out his domestic problems ???? If you have so little understanding of what an appropriate use for tax payers money is that you openly advertise a job position blantaly flouting the rules for ALL to see - I can only imagine what pilfering is going on behind closed doors.


"Anyone who wants to work 9-5 with minimal commitment and no flexibility should NOT apply!" Dont apply becuase with that work ethos you would make everyone in Brussels look bad by being the most productive person there.


Dailyhammer

Anonymous said...

I don't go anywhere near the bastards.
Eat fresh food, sleep properly.
Smoke, drink in moderation.
I guarantee you will see no ill health till your over 70 at least.

c777

William said...

How Bjork's contemporaries deal with people they don't trust

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_wikileaks58.htm

Anonymous said...

C777 (16 February 2013 20:40)

Eat fresh food, sleep properly.
Smoke, drink in moderation.
I guarantee you will see no ill health till your over 70 at least.


Or die trying. But at least you will have a better chance of dying happy.

Radical Rodent