Be Afraid - Be Very Afraid
Photo © Rob Jones
There are traits which children of medical professionals inherit …
A sense that, so long as you feel happy and healthy in the moment, then everything is OK.
A dispassionate appreciation of life changing occurences and ailments.
A disproportionate inclination towards eating really unhealthy things.
And a willingness to use any medical dish that comes to hand in which to serve up dinner.
As the son of two doctors and a grandson to a midwife/district nurse of some renown … really … what chance did I have?
Having inherited all their paraphernalia of their professions, and with the passage of time, I am left playing Caesar to the fate of many once treasured possessions. (Thumb up, thumb down. Let it live, or let it die at the recycling centre or charity shop.)
I have found myself recently looking at the contents of medical bags and thinking - why am I holding on to this.
Somethings clearly need to be expertly destroyed. Or at least assessed as to whether they pose any danger to society. More often than not, they don’t. A couple of curious bottles with the word ‘Poison’ writ large on the outside, turned out to be full of Meths, long since evaporated. I’ve kept the bottles. There’s a perverse pleasure in having something labelled ‘Poison’ in the cupboard … especially with my leanings towards crime fiction.
But - Tin Enamelled Dishes. That’s another matter. I’ve always loved enamelled dishes. They may seem basic, but they are so evocative of my childhood. My Gran (the Midwife) making a rice pudding in such a dish. A tradition followed by my Mum, and then by me, is a line of memory that, who knows, maybe goes back even further than three generations.
I balked slightly at the Kidney Dish. I know it’s called that because of its shape. But still. It’s crossing the border into the medical realm, leaving cookery far behind.
My Granny would have used them to harbour soiled dressings or ‘medical waste.’ They also go by the title of ‘Vomit Dishes’ in some quarters, although apparently they are not used for such events.
But still…
Such craftsmenship. Such beautiful enamel work. So useful.
RJ
