You might be surprised at what I found in a few hospitals recently. My wife spent time in a large French hospital. Then she entered a large American hospital. The French hospital was run by the government. The American one was privately run.

First, under the government system, patients seem to be numbers to the docs. Doctors do not have to have bedside manners. They don’t need to establish friendly relations with patients. They don’t have to know your name. They get paid anyway. And I suspect they don’t know the names of most of their patients.

Patients don’t talk about Dr. Francois and Dr. Bernard. They talk about “The Specialist” or “The Doctor.” Americans tend to know something about their docs and vice-versa.

The French hospital has over 1000 beds. In four days I saw not a single fat nurse. In the American hospital I once-in-a-while saw a slender nurse. (If you are a fat nurse don’t get mad at me. I didn’t criticize your size and I didn’t make you fat. I just calls ‘em as I sees ‘em. In America the hospital elevators are enormous to accommodate hospital beds as well as ...)