Tomorrow is Victoria Day, so this is a three-day weekend in Canada. Something interesting is happening. My colleagues are taking the time off.
American Medical academics don't do this (I believe it is called 'relaxation'). I once attended a small conference about chronic illness where the organizers started with an ice breaker: "Tell us what you did on your vacation last summer." It was supposed to put us at ease and it was a total failure, because the modal response was, "I wrote a grant proposal." The medical research culture selects in that sort of personality, and rigorously selects out alternative patterns of behavior.
Today and here, however, everyone understands that we live in a beautiful country and we have been given beautiful weather and we can't take these to our graves so let's stand together, and open the iron cage. Except me. But I am giving it serious thought.
Comments