Saturday, May 19, 2007

Going solo? Stay away from the crepe hangers


"Stay away from the crepe hangers." This is something my dad used to always tell me. And life is full of them. What is a crepe hanger? Crepe hangers are, among other things, pessimistic people. They always see the downside, the problems, the negative forecasts. They are real downers and they are poison. Stay away.


The term "crepe hanger" is an historic term and comes from a period in history when people used to drape all the mirrors and windows of their homes with black crepe following the death of a loved one.


Medicine is full of crepe hangers. These are the physicians who speak about nothing other than rising costs and falling reimbursements. They speak only of the problems, never the solutions, and are always negative. They are all over the hospital.


I saw one the other day. Nice person. Good doc. I bumped into him in the physician lounge and said, "hey, how's it going?" He replied, "Ahh, you know. Now I'm paying $160K per year in insurance, next year it's going to be $180K. I don't know."


Crepe hanger. He ruined my day. Got me thinking about my problems and made my mood negative.


Crepe hangers. Stay away! They are poison.


Thanks