09/24/15 -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘you’re right! the date does add up to a number with 6 in it! It must be Thursday!’ | the Wakefield Doctrine 09/24/15 -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘you’re right! the date does add up to a number with 6 in it! It must be Thursday!’ | the Wakefield Doctrine

09/24/15 -the Wakefield Doctrine- ‘you’re right! the date does add up to a number with 6 in it! It must be Thursday!’

Welcome to the Wakefield Doctrine (the theory of clarks, scotts and rogers)

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Once again, I’m apparently taking purposeful refuge in mis-understanding the week’s prompt. Clearly the word is ‘axes’. In my defense, my intention was to establish the plural of that word, but alas, mis-logism reigned, (once more), and a story grew, around the word ‘axis’. Please don’t tell anyone, especially zoe/ivy! She puts a lot of effort into this Thursday bloghop, the Six Sentence Stories and, seemingly every week, I show up and mess up the word prompt, all semi-rogerian confidence, never letting the facts get in the way of my imagination.

The Clockwork, the Mortal Axis and the World

And these little dots,” the black magic marker moved around the big red circle in the center of a spiral-bound note book, the newly placed dots showing a practiced randomness, “show what can happen, even when we successfully remove all of the primary tumor,” the physician’s voice was directed at the man and woman sitting on the far side of the desk, yet his eyes never rose from the drawing, clearly more comfortable with the certainty of his illustration than the reaction of the people who were watching the pad with dutiful eyes.

Ironically, the good health of the couple, combined with the suddenness of the diagnosis, resulted in finding themselves in the office of a highly rated surgeon, (“Blue Cross Blue Shield is listening and knows that you want to take responsibility for your healthcare!“), who was, nevertheless, a total stranger. Despite (or because) of this, both halves of the couple were at their personal strongest and personal weakest, as is sometimes the way with long married couples, the strength each had was intended for the other, the weakness, a deception that both wished for the other, yet accepted for themselves.

The Doctor continued his lecture in that patiently-focused manner shared by successful dog trainers and beloved kindergarten teachers, he chose to believe (without actually being aware of his decision), that the distant look on the face of  the patient indicated non-comprehension or, worse, in his opinion, the refusal to come to grips with a problem that he was demonstrating his competency to solve.

The man, sensing the approach of a turning point, probably the last level spot on an un-seen roller coaster, decided that he had to do something and took advantage of a momentary pause (between metastasize and mortality) to say, “I believe you know Bill Hendron, a client of mine, he said to give you his regards, apparently the two of you did your internship at the same hospital, what a small world, isn’t it?”

“Oh! I haven’t heard that name in years, Bill’s an exceptional physician, up at Children’s Hospital in Boston, isn’t he?”  as the Doctor spoke, there began a change, as if the world, (or at least this small and private section of it, a doctors office and a doctor presenting his prognosis), were a revolving stage, almost imperceptibly, the physician was beginning to see two people in his office, instead of two patients, …the clockwork of the world, the wheels and gears of that mortal axis, moving the stage, (as Shakespeare would like it), backdrops and props exchanged, the actors remain yet relate differently to one and another, the way that they relate themselves to the world around them, making all the difference to quality of the un-folding drama.

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clarkscottroger About clarkscottroger
Well, what exactly do you want to know? Whether I am a clark or a scott or roger? If you have to ask, then you need to keep reading the Posts for two reasons: a)to get a clear enough understanding to be able to make the determination of which type I am and 2) to realize that by definition I am all three.* *which is true for you as well, all three...but mostly one

Comments

  1. ivywalker says:

    FABULOUS! Any derivation any genre…we run loose and free at SSS!

  2. valj2750 says:

    This is a fantastic story. I felt the shift in the last sentence, a tipping of the axes that were holding the story together, if you will. Well done, Clark.

  3. Denise says:

    Great. I knew I should have finished my 6 sentence before heading out to read!
    Thanks a lot Clark! lol
    Compelling. Well done.

  4. Kristi says:

    My comment disappeared! This story rings so true. I had a pit in my stomach reading it.

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      oh man! (obviously this one made it…. though, I will say that I’m now in the habit if swiping/copying my comments before I try to hit publish)

      thank you

  5. oldegg says:

    How to get people believe in you? Drop a name they know and talk about them; then they will see you are to be trusted.

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      that business of ‘they know someone that I know, therefore…’ further proof of the notion of personal reality and how, apparently we do not assume (consciously or otherwise) that the people in front of us are ‘real’

  6. phyllis says:

    Nice job. Maybe it’s my Rogerian aspect, but I recognized some of the details. Thank you for the story and thank you for us.

  7. This story really spoke to me because I work in a profession where people too easily become cases, and in overlooking our common humanity we can miss the opportunity to show compassion and communicate on a level far more meaningful than diagnosis and desperate situations. Very well done, Clark, we could indeed see the axis shifting!

    • clarkscottroger clarkscottroger says:

      Thank you, Josie! it was remarkable to witness that change when it occurred, I suspect there is so much pressure on (each of) the participants in such interactions, that it is rare to recognize the fact that how we (all) relate ourselves to the world around us is so…. variable (or at least, potentially so).

  8. Oh, well done, Clark. The world is rather small when we consider connections like these, isn’t it? I kind of love when these moments happen – I think it helps make us feel more comfortable somehow.