It could always be worse

[Peter Korsten]

So, this evening I'm at home alone, because our son needed a small 
operation (for a hydrocele, just Google it), and because he got sick a 
lot and lost fluids, he needs to stay overnight. And mummy is staying 
with him.

Whereas St. Luke's hospital, where he stayed for about a week when he 
got food poisoning a few years ago, was in dire need of - well, 
everything really, the brand new Mater Dei hospital is top-notch, with 
TV/radio/internet terminals at each bed, spacey rooms with comfortable 
furniture. They even have a special area with soft toys to prepare 
children for the anaesthetic.

Even though a lot of the millions over millions that this cost went to 
the ministers' friends and family, it has been well spent. It just 
reminds me of Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport, though, because you walk a 
*lot*. The corridors are seemingly endless.

And when Jean-Luc gets older, and some girl wants to see his scar, he's 
practically on third base. Even though he's my little boy, I'm not too 
worried, and this e-mail isn't really about him.

Despite all its niceties, Mater Dei hospital has a bit of an f***-up in 
the sense that there's no place for family members to wait for their 
loved ones to recover from surgery. So you're in a somewhat surreal 
area, where the lifts and stairs come out, with not even a single chair 
to sit on.

As Yana went in to be with our son and I had to wait even longer, 
another patient came out. He was younger than I am, in his thirties at 
most. And the blanket made a sharp dip just underneath his groin: his 
body ended there. He had both legs amputated, from what I understand as 
a result of a road traffic accident.

I'm having a bit of trouble getting rid of the image, this young man 
lying on that bed, and the look on his face that was like resignation, 
but not quite the same.

There's not much more that I can say about this, except urge everybody 
to drive carefully, and to check those crash tests before buying a car.

- Peter