On the Lighter Side
The following article was originally published in the October / November / December 2009 issue of The Journal of the Philadelphia County Dental Society . Dr . Miller is the editor of the Philadelphia County Dental Society .
Citations and Commendations
Saul N . Miller , DDS
My personal deadline for this column has come and gone . The official deadline is tomorrow , and I have no idea where my column-writing muse is . I know this is not good , as many of you have told me that you look forward to my words for inspiration , motivation and the truth … often somewhat obtuse , but present nonetheless . I have no beginning , no middle and no end … actually not much different than many other columns , now that I think about it . I guess there will be no award from the American Association of Dental Editors ( AADE ) for this column . BTW , other of these musings considered by AADE were deemed not to have developed the subject fully enough , but hey , I just give you my thoughts , you ’ re on your own after that . I did , however , receive a warning citation from the City of Philadelphia for not recycling . How do they know ? Actually , I am recycling ( and I am not referring to riding around the same path a few times ), but I just did not put out the blue container . I guess it ’ s OK to not put out trash , as long as I recycle with public visibility . What a city ! Do I now have to leave a note with my carefully arranged and counted trash bags , which I pay to have collected , with said collection possibly being reduced to twice a month ? The note , which you are welcome to use and even modify , might read :
Dear trash and recycling police : Please know that I am recycling as per my online commitment ; however , ___ I just did not have enough to put out this week
___ there was so much I took it to the dump myself , since I had no room to treat patients
___ we use tap water , and the office is paperless
___ we use our shredded paper to pack lab cases
___ we are on vacation and unable to return from abroad to put out recycling Regards , The Cycling Recycler
I won ’ t even go into the parking citation I received in Ventnor where there is one sign per block , often behind a tree .
I have also received letters of commendation for fine service from various insurance companies . Often times they are accompanied by requests to do more for less money , along with statements indicating that bad things may happen if I don ’ t agree . I wonder if their employees get similar commendations and awards .
With such citations and commendations in mind , I began to ponder the bestowing of awards for merit and service . Often it seems that people who truly deserve them don ’ t care if they get them and , in fact , would rather not be bothered . This possibly may be related to the fact that many commendations are based on your friends ( or enemies ) making the selection , being next in line or the only one left who has not received the award . Of course , there is the posthumous award presented to honor someone the committee expected to be around a bit longer .
As with so many things in this life , it may be time we take control of this award thing ourselves . We are given them more often than we may realize , and we certainly don ’ t have to eat a bad dinner to receive them .
For example , a few weeks ago Mrs . M . said that Rita ( my assistant ) and I were the best of the best . This is from a sharp , very put-together 80-something woman with decades of institutional and office care from a vast assortment of disciplines . I ’ ll take that award and the rewarding feeling of it any time and any place .
On August 12 , 2009 , there was an AOL News article about a fast food restaurant gaining fame not for its food ( duh !), but for a special drive-thru attendant who smiles and gives
( continued on page 40 )
May / June 2010 • Pennsylvania Dental Journal
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