#but all i want is respect and courtesy

TW: Medical trauma

Had a medical procedure done today for health reasons and an older man was my anesthesiologist. Here’s how my interaction with him played out:

Him: I see you’ve had multiple brain injuries. How did those happen?

Me: I was hit in a car accident and for the most recent one, I lost consciousness, fell, and hit my head.

Him: What are you, accident prone? Those things don’t happen to normal people.

Me: *annoyed* Let’s just call it a series of unfortunate events.

Him: (Asks me a bunch of other questions which I answer. Then skeptically he asks) Are you a nurse or something? Because you sure know an awful lot.

Me: I’ve been in and out of hospitals so much that I know a lot about my health and the system.

Him: Oh really? (Then proceeds to mansplain me exactly what I just told him)

Him: Enough about that. Let me see if you can move your forehead to signal if you’re in pain during the procedure because it looks like you have had botox.

Me: I haven’t had botox *proceeds to wiggle forehead*.

Him: Oh it looks like you have!

Me: I’m sorry to disappoint you, I’m just young and beautiful *trying to make a joke*

Him: Young maybe…

Guys, I was just there for a colonoscopy. Wtf was this. To question how I got my injuries, use the term “normal people”, imply that I’ve had plastic surgery, then say that I’m lying, and then imply that I’m not beautiful.

And this is not the first time I’ve had these encounters. I just want staff to be kind and make me feel safe. Instead I so often get the opposite. Kindness is free and medical settings need more of it.