How do you deal with other people's problems/misery?

[Kyriakos]

In general i try to be benevolently indifferent - when for any reason, including negative ones, i cannot help. Still, bleak stuff around make me feel bad from time to time.

For example i paid a visit to some hospital to see a friend from the past and wish him for the holidays. His office is next to the secretary room, so while waiting i could not help overhearing a rather miserable exchange there.
Some elderly woman was asking for directions to get her medicine list officially stamped or needed some other step covered before it got to that, but the actual secretary was not there at the moment, so a young female doctor was in that place for a little while. After they could not identify if the patient needed some other course run with her list first, the patient called the female doctor (she was not aware, possibly, the other was a doctor) some term connoting (in a friendly manner) a young girl. The doctor reacted to this sharply, saying "oh don't call me that, i am a doctor". It only went worse from there, so soon i had to just exit that hall to wait outside for a few min, cause it seemed like a very bad behavior to have towards a patient nonetheless...

Anyway, afaik that doctor (not sure though) has a blood condition which forces her to clean her blood circulation every week, so it's not like she is devoid of her own serious difficulties, but it makes me sad that people react like this to each other, with little objective reason.

*

Of course the above is not really that crude an event anyway. Others deal with prolonged and repeated hostility/anger or even violence, on a daily basis.

 

[Old Hippy]

but it makes me sad that people react like this to each other, with little objective reason.

''it only went worse from there'' sums it up
because people often undervalue the roles of other people
she was not qualified to do the job she was filling in for and let her own sense of self worth become more important than finding out what problems the client had, and missed any chance of gaining additional information from the patient that could help her

a basic 101 course for a Community Worker would give an understanding of the professional standards expected of a receptionist working in this position

 

[Leonel]

I generally just sit and listen and try to offer comfort, knowing it's a temporary condition at least when it comes to my girlfriend.

 

[Zelig]

Appropriate thing for a patient to call their doctor: FirstName, Dr. FirstName, Dr. LastName, etc.

Inappropriate things for a patient to call their doctor: Honey, Sweetie, Darling, Baby, etc.

 

[JollyRoger]

Inappropriate things for a patient to call their doctor: Honey, Sweetie, Darling, Baby, etc.

"Dr. [Honey/Sweetie/Darling/Baby], I have an erection that has lasted more than 4 seconds. Can you help me find a cure before it becomes one of those problematic 4 hour ones."

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Link to video.

 

[GenMarshall]

Based on my experiance, I get dropped like a sack of potatoes.