we Do what we Do

My new favorite superhero action movie is actually a Netflix docuseries about doctors at a hospital in Manhattan: an OB who delivers babies while carrying her own, an ER doctor who is moreso a social worker as she tends to the homeless, and two neurosurgeons who remove brain tumors as frequently as a regular person might empty the dishwasher. It’s a beautiful show about the sacrifices doctors make, the insane choices they’re faced with, and their own humanity, which they must both use and put aside. I won’t ramble more about it, JUST WATCH IT, but here is what’s most striking to me: isn’t it amazing how human interests and talents are sort of spread across people evenly, like Jam? There are people who love to make food, and they feed the people who love to save lives, and then there are people who like to write stories so that the people who love to save lives and make food can unwind at the end of a long day. And as I write these things that can transport the person who disposes of my trash, the person who designs my clothes, cleans my teeth, if there is a tumor growing in my brain, unbeknownst to me, there is someone who, as a child, thought to themselves: I want to be around death, and I want to stop it, and this person could potentially save my life. After a ten hour surgery, they snuggle in next to their dog or partner or spouse, turn on the TV, where my brain, the good and functioning parts of it, takes them somewhere Else.

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