MARK IS EXHAUSTED.AS A COMMITTED enviromental activist, he logs
hundreds of pro bono hours every year organizing rallies,circulating
petitions,raising funds, lobbying legislators,and campaigning
for like-minded politicians. And
that s not even his day job; Mark is also pursuing a full-time
career to pay the bills.
I m feeling totally overwhelmed by the immensity of
the problems we face, he says,,but I keep pushing
myself. It s like an anorexic getting thin.When you re
an activist,you re never working hard enough.
Lately,though,Mark s passion has been increasingly tainted
with bitterness.I sometimes look at the stuff I have to
do and I get angry, he says..Like,why doesn t
somebody else do some of it?Why is it just me ? Mark is
also disturbed to find him--
self muttering,Oh,a pox on them when he thinks about
the communities he is trying to help.They don t want
to save themselves, he continues,,so why should I
go out of my way?
Susan is also bitter.After five years as an emergency department
physician at St.Joseph Hospital,she still feels left out of the
tight-knit team of ER staff.I need to be included in discussions
about patients,diagnoses,and interventions, she says,, and
I need a meaningful voice in decisions on medical practice in
this ER. Yet neither is happening..
The other doctors all men have extended their circle
to include the ER nurses and assistants.But they don t seem
to know what to do with Susan.Instead of treating her as their
equal,they make important decisions without consulting her, disrespecting
her status and abilities.
In turn,Susan doesn t know what to do with her male col
leagues.I can t get into the flirty banter that goes
on between the male doctors and nurses, says Susan..That
isn t the way I operate,and it doesn t go with my
responsibilities as a doctor.
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