Saturday, September 15, 2007

Consciousness Raising Exercise #31

Hospitals are hotbeds of gossip where bad news travels quickly along a variety of networks. Depending on the people who work in a particular hospital, news may travel through a circuit of volunteers, nursing staff, and/or employees of varying job descriptions. News may also travel across an ethnic network whose members speak Spanish, Japanese, Tagalog, Russian, or some other language.
Sometimes what you say to an employee can have peculiar ramifications. How you say something to an employee can come back to haunt you in the strangest ways.
Consider this worst-case scenario:
Dr. C is a young, Caucasian physician who is extremely competent in his particular specialty. His social skills, however, are abysmal. Dr. C's short temper and erratic behavior (which border on a Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde phenomenon), have people talking about him wherever he works.

Because he lives in a city with an extremely large Asian population (where a large number of Asian physicians share his specialty), Dr. C is frequently asked to consult on Asian patients. One day, upon entering the parking lot of a hospital serving a heavily Chinese population, Dr. C discovers that the lot is full. Because he is running late for an appointment, Dr. C slams his car door shut and angrily screams at the parking attendant:"Find me a spot for my car, you Chink!"

Within five minutes, word of the incident has traveled to another hospital where Dr. C treats patients. Employees who have never heard such talk from Dr. C are horrified by his blatant racism. Others, who have already been on the receiving end of his anger, merely shake their heads and wonder how much longer it will take for this very capable doctor to commit professional suicide.

In 100 words or less, explain what is wrong with this picture:

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