Passive Aggressive

So I was sitting in my office, typing and looking out over the parking lot when my 2:00 appointment drives up. This patient gets out of the car and stands next to it for the next 5 minutes, finishing up their cigarette. This patient then throws the butt on the ground, and comes in for their appointment. I went out to the parking lot and retrieved the butt (wearing a glove) and placed it in a clear urine container. At first I thought about discharging this patient outright (basically, we can drop anyone for any reason, it's an opt-out agreement for either party). Then I thought about confronting them with the cigarette butt while they were in the room. Finally, I placed the container in the bottom of a bag of samples I gave them with a written note: "Don't trash our parking lot, please".

So, in the end, I guess I was a bit (a lot) passive aggressive. Still, I think I got my point across.

Two political end notes:

• I thought McCain's concession speech was impressive. He was gracious, eloquent, and reasserted himself as the true hero and lifetime public servant that he is. In a different election, with a different tone and a different running mate, I'd have been proud to cast a vote for him.
• Obama is bringing some technological upgrades to the White House, including change.gov, which describes the transitional plans and solicits the advice of American citizens on what they want (and don't want) from their government. But one of the most refreshing things is a link to the Presidential Transitional Resources page, which gives the graphic of the "organizational chart" of the U.S.A. The Executive Branch is clearly shown (as are the other two branches) under the Constitution. I'm encouraged to see that they (unlike the current occupant) know their place.