"You're Not a Doctor"

I I get so tired of people, mostly family members, saying things like "You're not a doctor" if I make a comment about medicine or health, as if somehow that magically prevents me from being able to learn about medical issues. It's a joke, and the thing is, they think they're hyper-intelligent, yet is only shows that they're not thinking about what they're saying at all, plus it's a cheap shot.

 You'd think they'd be above that if they were truly as intelligent as they claim, but apparently not. I'm also not professionally trained in drums either, but would they tell me I can't play because of it? I doubt it. BTW, "doctor" has been a part of my nickname since early in high school, but that's neither here nor there.

 What it does is stop any logical, adult conversation before it even starts. Instead of discussing the issue and maybe even learning something, they just shut it down. It's a smokescreen, and more than that it's rooted in fear. It's a "trigger word," like the term "Conspiracy Theorist." Why discuss something like mature adults, when you can just make it go away by tossing out a stock phrase and stirring up emotions, just like a little kid would do? It's lame. 

  Doctors don't know everything anyway. If they were truly healers instead of prescribers, they'd at least know that ALL medicines originally came from, and still do come from plants. 99% of doctors don't even know where aspirin, the biggest drug on Earth, originally came from. Ask one some time, and I can almost guarantee they'll say "Bayer." That's how they've been trained. For the record, it's "White Willow bark."

 I finally had my fill of one such person saying shit like "You're not a Meteorologist" if I made a comment about the weather, again as if it somehow made my eyes not work, and the ever-present "You're not a doctor" if I made a comment about health, which they might do well to heed, except that it'd mean they'd have to quit saying that everything I've learned in four decades is bullshit because I'm not a doctor. Here's the kicker...it's perfectly okay if he doesn't have a degree in his field. Hypocrisy? Nah.

 Well, guess what, bro...I don't have a degree in drafting either, but I'm (or at least I was) a legal draftsman in Alabama. I've told the story before about when I was doing drafting work for my Architect dad. One day a letter arrived from the good State of Alabama and addressed to me. I thought it was tax stuff or maybe I was in trouble for something, but it was a certificate, suitable for framing, with a note that started, "Congratulations. You are now a legally-recognized draftsman in the state of Alabama." Cool. 

 In the state's eyes, the hours of experience in the real world equalled getting a degree, which basically happened, only without the cap and gown. Point is, anyone who thinks that four or five years in the classroom equals decades of hands-on experience is a fool, and that's precisely what they're saying when they say "You're not a doctor" or whatever.

 Here's a bigger kicker...they're not doctors either, yet they literally think they're so smart that they can diagnose me medically, without the benefit of medical training, residency and certainly not a degree on the wall, and all without even an office visit. So far they're 0-for-3, but that's beside the point I guess. They should open the Remote Magical Medical Clinic. More hypocrisy? Naaaaaah. They get real satisfaction thinking they've proved something wrong, by saying nothing. 86 the bullshit, okay? You might learn something.