If you've ever had a very ill, elderly relative to take care of after some form of heart failure, you will know that this means a lot of boring depressing visits to the doctor who will listen to complaints, and robotically assign certain medications to address each one.
One relative of mine pops between fifty and sixty pills daily (no exaggeration.) To get to this stage is a family effort. We drive him to various specialists, sit in grey waiting areas, read circa seventies home beautiful magazines intersperced with the occasional annoying Watchtower publication, and listen to the wheesing of the other elderly people and their busy relatives. When it is our turn the doctor greets us with the shallow, mock enthusiasm of a management guru and begins taking complaints. We leave with a twelve volume prescription and bug the chemist for half an hour or so. The ordeal is quite daunting and if laughter, convivial times and all things nice are the best medicine, then this system is downright unhealthy.
So I propose a Yum Cha system of pharmaceutical administration. Yum Cha, for those not in the know, is a Chinese dining experience where small quantities of food are pushed around on trollies and brought to your table. The waiterperson offers you the food by (in my experience,) whispering it's name and if you accept, a small card is stamped outlining what you have consumed. You pay as you leave. This creates a cordial and convivial atmosphere among friends. Everybody's happy at Yum Cha.
How about converting this dining style to a pharmaceutical distribution system which goes something like this: Waiterpersons push trolleys laiden with pills which treat a certain ailment. They side up to your table and whisper their assigned malfunction ("low blood pressure?") and the patient, sorry, patron can accept or decline, Yum Cha style!
Being among friends and family in a calm eastern influenced environment would detract from the dullness of GP and hospital visits and add to the quality of a patients life.-- sdm, Aug 18 2001 Yum Cha vs. Dim Sum http://www.chinesefood.org/dim.htmYum Cha is the dining experience, Dim Sum is the food eaten at the Yum Cha. [PotatoStew, Aug 18 2001, last modified Oct 04 2004] Oh but of course. That goes without saying.-- sdm, Aug 18 2001 Very nice. Our GP has recently introduced elements of feng shui to her entire office. The effect is a remarkable change for the better.-- The Military, Aug 18 2001 I know the trolley thing as "Dim Sum". What's the difference between Dim Sum and Yum Cha? [Ah. Thanks for the link, PotatoStew.]-- jutta, Aug 18 2001, last modified Aug 21 2001 I thought a Dim Sum was a seperate delectible treat. Or is that a dim sim? If somebody who isn't as culturally unaware as myself could answer this question I'll change the name of this idea to suit.-- sdm, Aug 19 2001 Yes, which narcotics are on special today? Ok, um, I'll have a pork bun and a plate of morphine tablets, please. And some tea. Thanks.-- snarfyguy, Aug 20 2001 ::: applause :::-- sdm, Aug 21 2001 Sounds good, but what about injectable medications? Do the nurses stop the carts, swab an arm, and inject the medicine on the spot, or does that still have to be take-out?
But if there's sticky rice and clams in black bean sauce, I'm there.-- Redbird, Aug 21 2001 Redbird: Like any good Do-Dim-Den, the patrons would receive only the minimum required for their satisfaction--the rest is do-it-yourself.
An aside: the best local oriental restaurant has taken to serving crawfish and mini-wienies rolled in dough because, in spite of its uptown cachet, we live in what amounts culturally to an enormous trailer park here.-- reensure, Aug 21 2001 Mephista: If there are only three great pleasures to be had on this earth, then you are omitting either sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll.
Actually, I don't believe I *ever* had Chinese food at all until I went to Hong Kong (and the PRC later on), which turned me around in many ways. Unfortunately, when I got back to New York, I found that the Chinese food here is not nearly as good as it is in China.
If any NYC halfbakers have Chinese food suggestions, I would be grateful to know them.-- snarfyguy, Aug 22 2001 random, halfbakery