The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

10- HILLS OUTLOOK Saturday Outlook Lifestyle DRGOTT is a waste By Peter H Gott M D Doctors deny their own wackiness To us the medical profession is nor mal the rest of you need help This isnt a new conceit History Is replete with groups of people who have con sidered themselves special and ex traordinary or one reason or another However doctors have been viewing themselves as a unique breed for cen turies few other professional in- groups can claim this dubious distinction Anyway if were so unique then It follows that we are rational beings who always think clearly What elite tribe has the courage to admit that on occasion its members are a little nuts I maintain that most doctors my self Included are sometimes a rifle offthewall I was recently reminded of this conviction while sitting In a staff meeting at our community hospital One of the doctors took the floor and proposed a resolution to the effect that the hospital ought to discourage cigarette smoking on the premises This made perfect sense Smoking Is hazardous to health It is associated with lung and breast cancer heart disease chronic lung ailments stroke and a of other unpleasant medical illnesses Passive smoking socalled pollution is SHOP OUR YELLOW PAGE FIRST JGs Appliance Service 8778448 Homo Calt to most raikei Meel bv Accident CALL US WELL GET THE JOB DONE Windshield Replacement Insurance Claims Welcome Sunroofs Vinyl Tops THOSE GUYS aw Addition Sunropmt Kevin Mike 8534452 This Space Can Be Yours If You Call Now 8778822 and Taping Pine Cabinets Kitchen Bathrooms a Finished Carpentry Trim Work Van Construction KALTON HILLS IIS Main Acton THE OF VOUft DRIVEWAY IS IN OUR HANDS PROTECTS THE LIFE OF PAVEMENT Call 41 Anfllme gHak COKTMCTHB ggjjgjgg Industrie RmMwiiuI Commercial PROP ntUETCR 8532572 ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR GLEN ERIN ELECTRIC SERVICE WMDSHELD WE AIL INSURANCE CLAWS AUTDtPHOUaT YEMS ROOM EXrBnor Rob Estimate Guarantee CUSTOM DOORS TAYLOR LID Enwrrjoicy Service MACMdSAAC SALES SERVICE TV VCR STEREO AX Work Guaranteed lot M we arc tat HITACHI COLOUR SOUND at best an irritating nuisance to smokers at worst It causes dis ease in the unwary Almost all physicians concur that cigarettes are The world would be a better place If the darned things had never been Invented Therefore the doctor at the staff was being supremely ratio nal by suggesting that the hospital which after all is supposed to be an Institution concerned about promot ing good health should prohibit smoking In all work areas save for a few Isolated rooms set aside for this purpose Because of administrative reasons it seemed appropriate for the medical staff to initiate and support such a proposal Youd think that phy sicians being knowledgeable about this sort of thing would be in the posi tion Of appreciating far more than the public the disastrous conse quences of cigarettes What reaction would you expect Do you believe that the doctors enthu siastically endorsed the resolution Guess again was witness to a barrage of argu ments and counterclaims from my es teemed colleagues some of whom were themselves nonsmokers It sounded as though we had been asked to turn the hospital administration over to the communists Statements such as You cant legislate social is- sues and Sure Im hooked on 1 tine but its my right to smoke hung in it like Mm burning tobacco One surgeon went so far as to suggest that because so many nurses and technicians smoke and all hospitals are having difficulty finding adequate help we would be shortstaffed if we endorsed the no- smoking resolution The nurses would simply go elsewhere he said The discussion raged the healers raged It was pure entertainment real theater method acting by churl hams who temporarily shed their gentility and ventilated about how they were entitled to have what they wanted when they wanted It This was very similar to the drunk reaction when his bottle is taken away or to the scene made by children when they are told they can no longer suck their thumbs In the end when the entertainment level dropped to and everyone bored the resolution passed by a and vote to 9 Here we were a bunch tied docs unable to agree on the sim plest health measure of public con cern I reflected on all the really important issues facing us loss of control over our practices diminish ing esteem the unwanted Incursion by bureaucrats the sham bles of Medicare the threat of giant HMO corporations abortion eutha nasia AIDS you name It In that staff room I saw a microcosm of medicine Too often weve been re duced from an honorable service pro fession to a sad collection fright ed bickering sniveling self pitying dweeuis tilting at windmills wondered if we dont deserve what we get and whether in fact we have been instrumental in bringing it upon ourselves IBS NATIONAL REA ESTATE SERVIC NRS Brand Realty Inc Realtor mm By Qlenda Hughes Sales Rep 8730300 should brighten dampened spirits and turn your hearts of flowers green and warmth For those of you who have pools It certainly means that the end of that horrible dark winter pool cover Is soon in tight Some manufacturer with a little foresight will make a lot of money someday by designing an attractive cover If you are planning on doing any landscaping pool repairs deck building or summer additions you should consider contacting some contractors now As soon as the snow melts just when you are ready to think about getting some estimates for work to be done you will find that most contractors are booked for months and wont even be able to attend to your needs until half the summer is over A lot of good It will do then because most people want work done within days of calling Such procrastination can be a very cost ly mistake Firstly getting estimates done at the last minute when contrac tors are busy will probably result in higher estimate and second ly If you ore forced to Lake someone who is inexperienced at his work you can not be guaranteed of a first rate job If you ore going to spend the money to do your outside Improvements why not have it done by the bat within your budget A poor Job will only result in someone probably you tearing it out or trying to repair it and costing you more money In the long run Im all for keeping up with Improvements but overpaying for work is hard to recoup down the road Is UUMtf THIS WEEKS MORTGAGE RATES AS OF FEBRUARY 1 ii ill