La Clínica: A Doctor's Journey Across Borders

Chapter Fourteen

 THE PHoNE RANg, SNAPPINg ME oUT oF My REvERIE. I LooKED at my watch as I answered and realized the residents were already waiting for me. “Hello,” I said. “This is Max from security.” “oh, hi, Max. Don’t we have a meeting later?” “yeah, but this can’t wait,” he said. “What is it?” I asked. “one of your students. He’s parking in Mr. T’s spot.” “Are you sure?” I asked. “oh, yes, we have it on videotape,” he said. I was surprised because Mr. T, a longtime university administrator, had a very recognizable parking space. And we all knew his car, the blue BMW. It would be foolhardy to park in his space. “Who is it?” I asked. “Which resident?” “The name is goodman,” he said. “Nancy goodman?” I asked. “That’s hard to believe. I’ve never had any trouble with her. She always shows up on time.” “Probably because she’s parking in Mr. T’s spot. He’s pretty angry. Wants me to tow the car.” “Is she parked there now?” “Right now as we speak. That’s why I’m calling you now.” “Well, I will talk to her immediately. This will not happen again,” I said. chapter fourteen  la clínica • I walked into the room where the residents and students were waiting. Among them was Nancy goodman. She was from New york and had short, dark hair and a round, happy face perched upon a muscular body. She liked to rock climb and mountain bike. Everyone liked her because she laughed easily, even in life-and-death situations, and liked to make off-color sexual jokes. “Nancy,” I said, “I just got a call from security. your car . . .” I paused, waiting for her to interrupt and acknowledge her error, explain, and run out to her car. But she waited silently. “your car is parked illegally. It’s about to be towed. It’s in Mr. T’s spot.” “oh, he told me I could park there,” she said. “He did?” I asked. “oh, yes, he did,” she said. “Well, security doesn’t know anything about it. They are about to tow you. you better hurry down there and try to explain. Why would Mr. T let you park there in his space?” I asked. “We’ve become friends,” she said. “What? Mr. T? Friends?” Nancy goodman smiled as if to answer my incomplete thought. “oK, well, I don’t want to know any more about this. We need to talk privately. you better do something, or your car is going to be towed. you can’t reason with security. They just follow the rules. Most of us believe that it is unfair that administrators have special parking spaces and doctors don’t. But that’s not going to change today. you better move your car until we can sort this out. And I need to begin my lecture on malpractice.” “I’ll talk to Mr. T. He’ll take care of it,” she said and walked out of the conference room. “Wow,” I said. “I can’t believe it. How long has this been going on?” I asked the other residents and students. They looked back at me and shrugged. My secretary came into the room. “There’s a telephone call for you,” she said. “Mr. T needs to talk to you.” “I’ll take it in my office,” I said. “Take a fifteen-minute break,” I told the residents. “We’ll start after the break.” I picked up my phone. “Hello?” I said.  • david p. sklar “It’s Mick,” he said. “oh, hi, Mr. Tomasan,” I said. I had never called him Mick, nor even heard anyone call him by his first name. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I gave Nancy goodman approval to park in the administrative area for today,” he said. “you did?” I asked. “yes,” he said. “oh,” I said. “So her car?” “It’s been taken care of.” “oh, so she doesn’t have to move it?” “No.” “Because security called,” I said. “It’s not a problem,” he said. “She’ll be up in just a few minutes.” “It’s oK. We’re taking a break. Fifteen minutes.” “Excellent,” he said. “I’ll let her know.” “good-bye,” I said and hung up the phone. I stood there in shock. I had not seen it coming at all...