Growing up in Brooklyn I sometimes reflect back on some strange things. While I must admit that I think most people reflect back on parts of their growing up, my reflections sometimes take strange detours. Recently, I had a basal cell Ca removed from my forehead. Everyone was amazed that I did not go straight to the plastic surgeon. I never thought about it and felt I would see how it healed first. All this talking led to my most recent reflection about all of the scrapes and cuts we got growing up. I remember my friends and I having scrapes and cuts in various stages of healing, many on the same arm and leg. We almost never went home to get these things treated. At best, we used the water fountain at the park to wash it off and that was that. Rarely if ever do I remember these various wound getting infected. I really believe it was the same for many of us whether you grew up in a big city or small town. Must have been the clean air?

I got to thinking about where I live now and how different things are. Most kids don’t go out to play, they attend supervised play dates. They go to karate, or gym, or soccer, or little league where there is always an adult around, many times even a medical professional. If one gets a bad scrape, half the moms really do have the plastic surgeon check it as there might be a scar later. I guess there are good scars ie. knee surgery for scoring numerous winning goals and bad scars, ones you get for just playing. That lead me to “playing”. Years ago you “went out to play”. You may have left your house and came back 7 hours later for dinner. Playing was not just with kids your age, but with all different ages of kids. If you wanted to play ball with them you had to negotiate your way into the game. If you were not good enough you had to beg your way into the game and usually they allowed you to play because someone better did not show up. While it sounds cruel, it actually taught humility, negotiating skills and much more. My kids growing up in small town New Jersey did not expect to have to convince others to play. They did not learn how to negotiate their way into the games. Neither did their friends. Both my children did become black belts and in their own way had to prove they were tough. My son who is older than my daughter did move to Brooklyn for a year ( from suburban New Jersey) just to show us he could hack it and also I suspect to see if our stories were true. I just wish that a least a part of the good old days stayed intact. The part where you were left alone to be a kid, to fall scrape and yes, even cry without your parents around to make it all better. It is a world never to return. One I fear our kids and their children will never share with us. Just like the scrapes, cuts and scars we let go of and never gave a second thought to.



Dave has been a PA, and later NP, leader for thirty years.  He strongly believes that NPs and PAs must work together to insure a better future for both professions.  Most recently Dave has been busy launching another dream; Clinician 1, the first internet community for PAs and NPs.  In October 2008, Dave was honored by the New Jersey State society of PAs with its “Lifetime Achievement Award”.








The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC. 
 

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