In one of the ongoing message threads that Pam and I have with the boys, the incredible woman whom I love once again proved that she knows me. Here’s what she sent.
And here is the actual tweet/video that she was referencing.
You see I have a bit of a problem with Medical Doctors co-opting the title Doctor. 1st being a minister and understanding where the title “doctor” came from (i.e. “doctor of the church”) will do that to you, and 2nd being a workman’s compensation adjuster at one point in your life also has a tendency to do that to you (MD: “I am a person of science!” Me: “Nope your a technician who basically just wrote the report that I asked you to write.”)
I have great respect for Medical Doctors and I trust their advice when it comes to medicine. I don’t go down the whole “I don’t trust traditional medicine” route. I trust the experts. I am just not a fan of how the term “Doctor” has come to mean “Physician”. That isn’t what it actually means and it shouldn’t be the generally understood meaning (don’t go down the route of language being socially constructed – you’ll interrupt my rant 🙂 ).
I’m not much on titles but if you are going to expect people to refer to you with your co-opted title outside of your professional setting (I understand the need for the title in the hospital setting) then you should do the same for others who have earned their doctorates. When you greet my highly-intelligent PhD Professor wife you should either acknowledge that you will be on a first named basis with her or refer to her with the honorific of either “Doctor” or “Professor”. While we are at it I prefer that people call me by my first name but if you are going to be picky then the name is Reverend Doctor Terrell, thank you very much. Realistically just use my first name and I will use yours.
I do tend to get a little worked up over this. Anyhow Brooklyn 99 is awesome!