[thechat] hospital costs

[Luther, Ron]

Kevin Stevens spoke of his recent hospital stay [1]:


>>I had a brief stay in a private hospital recently and was amazed to
find they had a wine list, 

<sigh /> That thar Euromopope place is just soooo dang hoity-toity 'n
civilialized!  ;-)

Pretty cool, man!  Must be a benefit of privitazation! I haven't seen a
hospital wine 
list over here for a VERY long time. Many years ago, when women
delivering babies 
actually spent a night or more in the hospital (I'm surprised it's not a
drive-thru 
outpatient service yet), hospitals would cater in a most excellent
candlelight dinner for 
the new parents the night before they were discharged ... filet, prime
rib, salmon ... 
and a choice of a nice wine or champagne.  I'm not sure they do that
over here anymore.  
Pity.  It was a nice touch and probably did more for their marketing
than any five 
print or radio ads.

A hospital wine list *does* add some etiquette pressure however.  I
mean, really, what goes 
better with a compound fracture? A Cabernet or a Chardonnay?  How
embarassing if your doctor 
caught you with the wrong wine for your condition!  OMG!  This patient
is a barbarian, slap 
a bandaid on them and get them out of here! Use the service entrance!



A RonL. thinking it's time to restock the wine fridge at home ... for
medicinal purposes 
naturally!



[1] Oh sure!  We could *ask* Kev why he was in - but what fun would that
be?  
Nope.  Get yer votes in now!  WE'LL decide what he was in for!
Democracy in action. 
I'm casting my vote for 'rode his mountain bike off the _wrong_ cliff".
Now, I realize 
that this IS Kevin and that he might very well feel that *some* cliffs
would be fun 
to ride off ... My guess is this one wasn't.  <sotto voce /> One of
those 'poor impulse 
control' decision issue thangs, ya know.