[Yawn]. The dad's request was boorish and ignorant – realistically (and thankfully) a mere vestige of a time that no longer exists.
I guess I don't share the sentiment of your headline, inasmuch as the overwhelming number of Americans today would probably not so much consider the world we live in as sad, as much as to celebrate that this incident is apparently so sufficiently rare today as to merit news coverage.
Nor am I troubled by the hospital management's decision to follow the request. To the extent they had sufficient staff to so allocate – they could correctly consider the requester a jerk while saying "no problem". Meh. If someone in my field of work requested "no honkey whitey cracker", I would not be offended – I'd probably chuckle a little bit and simply think "God be with you". Seriously, life is too short to get your nose out of joint over this type of thing.
Unfortunately, the nurse involved smelled lawsuit money. If the hospital's actions are indeed prohibited by Michigan law, and if it were up to me, I'd rule in the nurse's favor – and award damages of 1 cent.
Our culture and economy would both be well served by pausing for the briefest moment to acknowledge that "yep, that guy's an idiot", and getting back to work.
[Yawn]. The dad's request was boorish and ignorant – realistically (and thankfully) a mere vestige of a time that no longer exists.
I guess I don't share the sentiment of your headline, inasmuch as the overwhelming number of Americans today would probably not so much consider the world we live in as sad, as much as to celebrate that this incident is apparently so sufficiently rare today as to merit news coverage.
Nor am I troubled by the hospital management's decision to follow the request. To the extent they had sufficient staff to so allocate – they could correctly consider the requester a jerk while saying "no problem". Meh. If someone in my field of work requested "no honkey whitey cracker", I would not be offended – I'd probably chuckle a little bit and simply think "God be with you". Seriously, life is too short to get your nose out of joint over this type of thing.
Unfortunately, the nurse involved smelled lawsuit money. If the hospital's actions are indeed prohibited by Michigan law, and if it were up to me, I'd rule in the nurse's favor – and award damages of 1 cent.
Our culture and economy would both be well served by pausing for the briefest moment to acknowledge that "yep, that guy's an idiot", and getting back to work.