When the Uber arrived, I took the front seat as I always do, and as we set off, I engaged the driver in conversation. I asked him about his family, how they were... What were you doing before you started Uber? And so on for the fifteen minute ride.
When we got to my destination, the driver tells me "Thank you very much for engaging me in conversation! This rarely happens to me... In fact, today, this hasn't happened to me! You have made my day! You've actually made my day! Thank you for that!"
He was dropping me off at 10pm. And it struck me just how much something so simple and so natural could affect someone else so much!
I've also come to appreciate that the same is true with my patients. The kind of attitude I have will determine how much I can do for them... It's the outlook... When this guy walks into my examination room, what's the first thing I say to him or her? It could be an old lady with arthritis and she talks a lot so that means that it will probably take a whole hour of consultation, or another thirty minutes... Or it's this poor guy who will ask me for money... I've learnt that my outlook will determine a couple of things including that human touch that every person naturally seeks. The human touch that throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has been encouraging us to live towards those we meet in our day to day lives: at home, in the office, in school, as we travel and so on.