It’s a Laughing Matter (cont.)
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When it comes to humor, it’s vital
to look the part as well, experts say. That doesn’t mean
donning a headband of an arrow shot through your skull, unless
that fits your personality, of course. It does mean walking
through each room in your office to evaluate it on a
cheerfulness scale. For instance, asks Goodman, does your
waiting room offer a few humorous books, magazines or videos to
lighten patients’ loads? The Humor
Project has helped a number of medical organizations stock
their waiting rooms with materials featuring Bill Cosby, Billy
Crystal, Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry, and Jerry Seinfeld. In fact,
Lynn Johnston of “For Better or For Worse” cartoon
strip fame began her artistic career while working for an
ob/gyn, where she took the initiative to decorate the ceiling
with cartoons for women’s entertainment.
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It’s certainly
within bounds to include props like smiles on a stick in the
corner of your exam room, or posters with fun sayings. Goodman
personally leans toward the Robert Frost statement, “The
brain is a wonderful organ. It starts the moment you get up in
the morning and doesn’t stop until you get to the
office.” Or place a beautiful canister full of upbeat
observations and humorous quotes in each room, and invite
patients to pull one, fortune-cookie style, during their
visits.
Davis decorates his
exam rooms with cartoons that patients clip and share with him.
You’ll soon
notice these surroundings benefit you, too. “We’ve
observed that if you can insert humor into the environment,
then it seeps into the individual consciousness,” Goodman
says. “We can remind ourselves of the importance of that
smile when it’s one of those days when we don’t
have a smile.”
As for humorous
conversations, start with one-liners. “It’s a
mistake to try to become a comedian. That’s not what
I’m advocating,” Moore says. “I just want you
to enjoy humor.” He frequently can be overheard telling
folks, “Expecting life to treat you fairly because
you’re a nice person is like expecting a bull not to
charge you because you’re a vegetarian.” Patient
Curry found herself amused by gynecologist Zweig’s habit
of telling her, “Like they say on Blue Collar Comedy,
‘Let’s get you nekkid!’” or his short
“Now for the fun part,” remarks just before an
exam.
Pettus’ style is
a bit more buttoned-down, but he’s been known to share a
line from a Seinfeld repeat that struck his funny bone.
“For me it is very unconscious, more of a natural
extension of what I value and what I am comfortable with. I
hope my choice of words [and] my demeanor remind people that I
am just a regular guy like anyone else and we’re all in
this together,” he says.
In the real world, you
will encounter patients who don’t find your brand of
humor funny. Davis admits after 26 years most of his patient
base has self-selected his office and its atmosphere. And he
would never prescribe a full dose of his personality to a new
family without getting to know them better and building that
all-important trust. But should someone complain directly,
Weinstein recommends dealing with the complaint directly, but
not backing down from the playfulness.
“It’s
always helpful to explain to people that serious can co-exist
with joy, that we are not put on earth to suffer,” Davis
says. “It’s not that I don’t sympathize with
you or feel your pain, but we know that your healing will
happen more quickly if you are able to mobilize the resources
that laughter and play offer,” he says. In other words,
convey that you are there to celebrate both the patient’s
life and recovery.
Keep in mind, as well, that
when people are suffering, they’re not in the best of
spirits, says Moore. A complaint may be merely their way of
asking for permission to be pulled from that bad mood. As
Goodman says, “It’s not a kidney waiting in the
examining room. It’s not a left shoulder. It’s a
human being and humor is part of that good old bedside
manner.” g
Julie Sturgeon lives
in the very funny town of Greenwood, Indiana. She is a regular
contributor.
