The 67 year-old Ethiopian man did not speak a word of English. Well, that's not entirely true. At various times in the conversation, he would interject with, "And what is your name?" (I had already told him about 5 times).
He also knew thank you. And although he used it appropriately, it was a bit uncomfortable when he said, "Thank you," after I finished doing a rectal exam. In my fluster of not knowing what to say, I said "thank you" back, which compounded the awkwardness (for me, not for him). I slowly exited stage left.
With the interpreter on hand, things got a bit easier, but not as much as one would expect. When I asked him if there was anything else that was bothering him, he grabbed his belly with his hands. "This," he said (through the interpreter), shaking his belly furiously. "This is wrong. This was not here 3 months ago. This came on since I moved here. Now I do nothing and my belly has gotten big. The doctors tell me to lose weight, but I don't even eat that much. Like today, I have eaten nothing." The interpreter giggled a little, "I want this to go away; can you make this go away?"
Sigh. . welcome to America, I suppose.
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1 comment:
Can't decide how I feel about the situation - is it really sad because the poor guy hasn't eaten anything all day? Or do I want to ask for your help, because I want "this" to go away too?
love,D
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