All entries for Thursday 23 November 2006

No! It's not me that's the Doctor!

Got a phone call at 8am this morning – don’t know about you but I hate it when the phone rings that early, my heart beat quickens and I steal myself to hear the voice of someone I love telling me something horrible. Luckily, it was a man looking for our house so he could deliver HP’s new passport. As my breathing slowed and pulse rate returned to normal I gave him directions and waited….
One of my quirks is that I like to be on time so I’m waiting for this man to turn up and looking at the clock and getting anxious that I might not leave the house on time for work when I saw a car driving slowly past the house, so despite directions he still didn’t find it! Anyway I thought I’ll get my coat on and meet him outside, sign the form and I’ll be on my way. As he came over he was very smiley and good morningy which is nice but then he managed to spoil that with his next sentence “Is it you that’s the Doctor?” Now this might seem fairly harmless but it was the incredulity of the way he said it, as if to infer that it would be amazing if I, a mere woman could be a doctor! What made it worse is when I pointed out, no, it was my husband, he winked and said ‘well you’ve done all right for yourself’ (He had made the common mistake of assumimg HP is a GP).
Why do GPs still command such respect? (there are other equally difficult, demanding and praise worthy jobs that are less financially rewarding) Why is marrying a GP such a good thing? Why would it mean I’ve done all right for myself? and Why is it STILL assumed that women are unusual if they’re a doctor?
Luckily I managed to keep smiling at him, sign the form, get in MY car and drive MYSELF to work. let’s see if I can manage to complete a day’s work without assuming a man is going to help me!

Sharon Tuersley : 23 Nov 2006 09:17 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem