A Bright Future

So I had the pleasure of meeting a doctor last Wednesday.  Not as a student, but as a patient.  When I got to the clinic, there was already a long line up.  I had to wait over 1 hour to see my source of relief.  My sore throat was killing me and my dripping nose was like a leaking faucet threatening to flood the country.  Anyway I finally got to see the doc.  He and I had the usual conversation that most people engage in when they make this trip. 

Hello, what's wrong?
-Sore throat, dripping nose, no headache, a little cough.
When did it start?
-Today.
I see, say "aah."
-Aah.
It's really swollen.  I'll give you some antibiotics.  What about that nose?
-When I tilt forward, it drips.
Hm.  Okay, antibiotics.
-Thank you.

Common scenario, except for the antibiotics.  While Canadians stress over taking antibiotics, this Hong Kongese doctor had no problem dishing them out by the dozens, probably to every patient.  I thought antibiotics were for serious cases, but it seems to be quite common to take them here. 

After the visit to the doctor, you proceed to the pharmacy, which is located right inside the clinic! The setup is quite ingenious.  The walk is about two second, unlike the great distance that we Canadians have to travel after we see a professional for our ailments just to get one bottle of cough syrup.  The fee of $205 includes:

The doc really listened to all my "this this hurts help," and gave me pills for EACH individual problem. There are meds of all kinds: cough syrup, lozenges (cough drops, yes they provide cough drops can you believe it? yay!), pills labeled "nose, at bedtime," pills that says "nose, may feel drowsy," pills "for pain and fever," and "Bright future" pills-- I mean antibiotics.

As the local saying goes (with my poor translation), "I have time to die but no time to get sick."  Everyone wants to get better quicker, but it seems that Hong Kongeses takes this concept extremely seriously, kicking it up a few notches in its practical implications.  This means antibiotics.  Whatever happened to taking a day off?  Well although you are totally allowed to take sick days, most people don’t.  There are too much to do, too much pressure to do them all, and too little time to do them.  Taking a day off means lagging behind.  And nobody wants to lag behind, because you would then have to make up for that by working double the pace the next day.  Your life revolves around your work, and your work is your life.  I am not sure if it’s a meaningful existence or simply a struggle to stay afloat.