Dear Provider
I read Dear Provider in a letter from a health care company. Provider is a fine word, and I’ve always felt proud to provide for my family-but the company doesn’t know guys from Jersey are sensitive.
POETRY OF THE TIMES
My parents named me Richard just because
they liked the name, clueless about how fast
King Richard the Lionhearted could become
Little Dick when a Jersey bully taunted me.
And I felt taunted today when I read Dear Provider
in a letter from a health care company.
Provider is a fine word, and I’ve always felt proud
to provide for my family, but the company
doesn’t know guys from Jersey are sensitive,
that I felt devalued, my hard earned Doctor
mixed into an alphabet soup of colleagues
from scores of disciplines who share patient care
The company’s game: blend us together,
pay everyone less, and increase profits
which is precisely what I provide for them.
Right now, I’ll ignore the bully’s insult,
let them know Dear Doctor will be fine next time.
But call me Dear Provider again and it’s a Jersey
street fight with a doctor who can be a real dick.
Disclosures:
Dr Berlin is Instructor in Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA.
