Doc: "Good evening. How are you?"

Aspiring Patient: "Good, Doc." So what am I doing here?

Doc: "All right. What do we have here?" I know exactly what. You just want an MC, don't you?

Aspiring Patient: "This morning I had this fever, Doc."

Doc: "Morning, huh?" And that's why you're visiting this clinic at 7 PM.

Aspiring Patient: "Yes. It actually started last night. But it got worse in the morning."

Doc: "Let's see." All right, I'll play along. "Let me take your temperature... Normal. Good."

Aspiring Patient: "Yes, I think it's gone now." As in, it was never there, of course.

Doc: "Pull your shirt up and breathe, please."

Aspiring Patient: *does what the doc says -- he's the doc after all*

Doc: "Sounds not too bad. Did you take any medicine?" I know you didn't.

Aspiring Patient: "As a matter of fact, I did take some Panadol this morning." You know I didn't. "And it's been a lot better since."

Doc: *nods approvingly* Terrible liar, you. "Open your mouth, please."

Aspiring Patient: *does what the doc says -- he's the doc after all*

Doc: "I see. It's a bit red down there. Any coughing?"

Aspiring Patient: Ah, this doctor is good! "Yes, a little. And it's slightly painful when swallowing." See? I'm not so bad myself.

Doc: "I will give you some medicine for the coughing, then. And for the fever, in case it comes again. Meanwhile, you should drink a lot of water..." Yada yada yada -- you know the drill.

Aspiring Patient: *watches the doc scribble one thing or another*

Doc: "I suppose you did not go to work today?"

Aspiring Patient: "I didn't." That's the point of this whole exercise, isn't it?

Doc: "All right, I'll write you an MC, then." Tell you what, since my daugther won the first prize today for her outstanding composition... "I'll put two days here. If let's say tomorrow morning you don't feel well, better take another day of rest."

Aspiring Patient: "I don't know if I can do that. Lots of things to do at work." Woohoo!

Doc: "Well, you just see tomorrow. If you feel okay, then you can work." You like that, don't you.

Aspiring Patient: "I surely hope so, Doc." Terrible liar, me. "Thank you very much."

I never understand why they have this MC thingy in the first place. I mean, think about it: if you're really sick, you should stay in bed and not walk for a few blocks to visit a clinic. If you're strong enough to take a stroll to see a GP, you're strong enough to work; so why not?

On the other hand, it makes it more tempting to skip work. If you can produce an MC, you're "legally" sick. It doesn't matter whether you really are; you have the MC to prove it, so you are. You're not accusing a professional MD of lying, are you?

Besides, it's a win-win-don't care situation. The doc gets paid. You get your day off and will get reimbursed for the medical expenses. Your employer doesn't care since it's covered under the compulsory insurance policy. What's stopping anyone to call in sick, then?

Perhaps the more practical way is to make producing MC necessary only when the employee/student is sick for two days or more. Because when you're sick for more than a day, most likely you'll want to visit a GP anyway -- skipping work for a day is fun, being sick for two straight days isn't.

Then again, what do I know. This is a developed country we're talking about. A country with GDP per capita almost nine times that of the country I proudly call home.

I have a new layout. (Yeah, I know. For a guy who complains about bloggers who design more than they blog, I surely change my layout often.) Took me two days and two nights. I guess that's why we should leave this kinda stuff to a real web designer.

Speaking of designers, this girl's good.

Current music: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
Current mood: happy