# Help, I have a new job in the ER and it is making me prejudiced **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506 "2012-12-29T19:30:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/41 "2012-12-29T22:41:58Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > For people without insurance, the ER is often their ONLY medical treatment choice. I know here in Oregon, it’s next to impossible to get on the state medical plan unless you’re pregnant. Otherwise, you’re SOL. Because even if it’s something simple, most doctors will not see you if you have no insurance. Even if you offer to pay cash up front, chances are they won’t even give you an appointment. At that point, your choices are to suffer through whatever or go to the ER. You may have a long wait, but they HAVE to treat you. Yeah, you’ll walk out with an insanely exorbitant bill, but hopefully your problem will be treated. I’m pretty sure that ERs really don’t have to treat non-emergency cases. However, the problem is that sometimes it’s hard to tell someone with a painful zit that the ER is going to want a payment plan before lancing that zit. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/42 "2012-12-29T22:49:11Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I find it kind of funny that he has a bulleted list of facts to support that’s he’s a good white guy. Who does that? If someone ever called me racist, I wouldn’t really have any documentation to support that I’m not. I don’t keep a file cabinet on hand of proof that I’m not racist. It did not help his case that what followed was, of course, racist. I believe that what he says happened has actually happened. He’s had some bad experiences in the ER with black people, and therefore he is now looking at the entire race differently. Ah hmm. Seems to me his prejudices were already there. I don’t respond to repeated terrible interactions with white people (which I’ve had) with “I don’t know about those guys anymore.” > > But that’s just my take. Enough about what I think. I have a spreadsheet. It’s cross referenced by complexion, eye color, sexual orientation, nation of origin, and physical characteristics. So whenever I run across an olive skinned, blue eyed, ploy-amorous, Native American with a lisp I’m all set. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/43 "2012-12-29T23:31:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Wait…What ?? Is this a new ethnic descriptor displacing African-American, which displaced Afro-American? Can I get a text every time this changes so I don’t look hopelessly dated?? Oh, no. It’s an homage to my dad. Lots of good country common sense, but rather clueless on cultural events. He referred to the bushy Black hairdos of the 1970s as “Africos,” instead of “Afros,” so I’m just keeping the phrase alive by using “Africo-American.” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/44 "2012-12-29T23:39:51Z")
If someone called me racist (which they’ve done on this board plenty of times), I would have a hard time defending myself without sounding kind of lame. The bullet points I would come up wouldn’t be proof of anything, but they would still be the only defense I have. It would probably be better just to concede to having the same low level of prejudice that most people have rather than trying to portray oneself as purely innocent. But this is very hard to do. So I can see why someone would play the “black friend” card, as cliche as it is. To the OP: the only advice I have for you is to continue to keep your eyes open. For every jackass that walks through your doors, there is a non-jackass. And not every obvious jackass is 100% jackass either. Pain has a way of magnifying ugliness. Moving from ATL to Newark, NJ introduced me to snobbery–my own. So I know how it feels to be knocked off a perch of self-perceived enlightenment. The only way to deal with it is to maintain conscientiousness. Prejudiced ideas starting making sense the moment you stop talking to yourself. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/45 "2012-12-30T00:20:44Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > \ > To the OP: the only advice I have for you is to continue to keep your eyes open. For every jackass that walks through your doors, there is a non-jackass. And not every obvious jackass is 100% jackass either. Pain has a way of magnifying ugliness. > > Moving from ATL to Newark, NJ introduced me to snobbery–my own. So I know how it feels to be knocked off a perch of self-perceived enlightenment. The only way to deal with it is to maintain conscientiousness. Prejudiced ideas starting making sense the moment you stop talking to yourself. Good advice. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/46 "2012-12-30T00:26:05Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > But I think the thing that frustrates me is that I don’t see how the system can long survive under the pressure of the people I described. Obviously, it can’t. Which is why I don’t believe you. ERs are not obligated to furnish pregnancy tests and the like. They are obligated only to treat bona fide emergencies. I don’t see how a hospital could stay in business giving free care to anybody who comes in for routine treatment, and I don’t see why they would run an emergency room that way even if they had unlimited funds, because, as you noted, it would delay care for the people who really need it. I know nothing about you, and I don’t know if some states or cities might have laws requiring the kind of treatment you describe (I _do_ know that the federal law that prohibits ERs from turning away true emergencies allows them to turn away non-emergencies), so if I’m wrong, I apologize. But this sounds like an Obamacare version of the welfare queen driving a Cadillac — the kind of made-up stuff that gets circulated by right-wing mailing lists. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/47 "2012-12-30T00:26:54Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > Now please excuse me, I’m off to dinner with friends. Black friends? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/48 "2012-12-30T00:31:05Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Black friends? I laughed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/49 "2012-12-30T00:48:47Z")
I used to work in the ER in Vermont, one of, if not the, whitest states in the country. I saw all of the behaviors you describe during the year I worked there, and about two patients in that entire year were nonwhite. We used to wager on whether a patient was Medicaid or not before they even came in the building; you could tell just from their swagger when walking in about 75% of the time. The experience left me fairly prejudiced against welfare clients, of whatever race. Occasionally a person would come in, usually with a serious medical condition, would be polite and helpful to the staff, and would look almost ashamed as they handed over their Medicaid care. Those were the ones I DIDN’T mind supporting with my tax money. ---
**Author:** ![SerafinaPekala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@SerafinaPekala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SerafinaPekala)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/50 "2012-12-30T00:53:24Z")
But isnt that being judgmental and arent we as health care _vendors_ obliged to be blind to all that? Its not an easy thing to do when we are being insulted and cussed at and played for fools, but thats the job description. No? ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/51 "2012-12-30T01:07:22Z")
Presumably ambulances bringing in true emergencies are not stopping by the OP’s registration desk to update address and insurance information before triage. So keep in mind that your registration desk is designed to catch the worst-of-the-worst system abusers. You are guaranteed to get a skewed sample of humanity there. Unfortunately the registration desk also scoops up all the other people who make it to the hospital on their own with a genuine medical need/emergency. As to those who may doubt the level of system abuse, I would suggest a candid talk with a paramedic or 9-1-1 dispatcher. I have no doubt of the nature of incidents the OP reports. I’ve heard much the same on 9-1-1. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/52 "2012-12-30T01:10:06Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > I’m pretty sure that ERs really don’t have to treat non-emergency cases. However, the problem is that sometimes it’s hard to tell someone with a painful zit that the ER is going to want a payment plan before lancing that zit. I was always under the impression they couldn’t turn anyone away. You might have to wait forever but they will see you. It might differ by state though. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/53 "2012-12-30T01:13:16Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > I’m a little skeptical about this one I’m skeptical too, and I’ll tell you why. First, I will give newcrasher the benefit of the doubt…if he comes into the thread and says it is possible he is hamming up the quote a bit for effect, then I will accept that in good faith. If he insists that the quote is accurate, I flat out call bullshit. It is not uncommon for white people to misunderstand how we use the consuetudinal “be”. I have struggled to explain this on these boards before. I’m going to try again. Let’s say I try a new website right now. I go to that website, having never been there before, no plan to go again. If someone asks me what I’m doing, I don’t say, “I be on this new website.” It just isn’t done. Black folks don’t speak like that. Now, let’s say someone asks me about the Straight dope. I may say, “Oh, yeah, I be on the straight dope.” Even if at that time I am no where near my computer! So, assuming the young man didn’t smash his thumb on a regular basis, I doubt very strongly that he said “My thumb be hurtin’ yo”. I know that lots of white people like to mock black English by throwing that ‘be’ around incorrectly, but there are rules to black English, and if you don’t know them, black people can tell when you are lying. As for the OP needing suggestions to fight feelings of prejudice brought on by bad behavior of blacks he is coming into contact with, I am eagerly reading replies to help me with the same problem when it comes to whites. I say at least the OP admits the problem and is willing to work on it. That is a start for any of us. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/54 "2012-12-30T01:16:07Z")
> [@newcrasher](#): > > I have hosted a conversation group in my home that includes white, black, Latinos, gay, transgender, christian, atheist, Muslim…etc. I don’t know why this amused me so much, but I can just see someone saying “No, no, we already have a transgendered person. But, say, do you know any Buddhists?” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/55 "2012-12-30T01:21:01Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > I was always under the impression they couldn’t turn anyone away. You might have to wait forever but they will see you. It might differ by state though. No, it is a federal statute: the [Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Medical_Treatment_and_Active_Labor_Act) of 1986, and they are only mandated to treat emergency cases: > [@](#): > > The U.S. government defines an emergency department as “a specially equipped and staffed area of the hospital used a significant portion of the time for initial evaluation and treatment of outpatients for emergency medical conditions.”[citation needed] This means, for example, that outpatient clinics not equipped to handle medical emergencies are not obligated under EMTALA and can simply refer patients to a nearby emergency department for care. > > An emergency medical condition is defined as “a condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that the absence of immediate medical attention could reasonably be expected to result in placing the individual’s health [or the health of an unborn child] in serious jeopardy, serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of bodily organs.” For example, a pregnant woman with an emergency condition must be treated until delivery is complete, unless a transfer under the statute is appropriate. > > Though patients treated under EMTALA may not be able to pay or have insurance or other programs pay for the associated costs, they are legally responsible for any costs incurred as a result of their care under civil law. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/56 "2012-12-30T01:21:38Z")
I think a trip to africa would be a great start for folks in your position. (You may not know it, but I spent a career in the ED.) The chip on the shoulder of the group of blacks who use an ED for primary care can be large. Is it cultural? Is it a consequence of that group’s history and lack of hope here in the US? I think so. It may not be possible, but if you could just truck off to africa and meet Joe Schmoe wandering around Arusha, you might change your perspective. The other–possibly more attainable–route would be to meet more black professionals. In any case, remember that the next person you meet is…an individual. Group averages, even for behavior, are not a good way to make judgments about individuals. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/57 "2012-12-30T01:24:13Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I don’t know why this amused me so much, but I can just see someone saying “No, no, we already have a transgendered person. But, say, do you know any Buddhists?” If you imagine it in the voice of John Cleese it’s even better. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/58 "2012-12-30T01:30:32Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > If you imagine it in the voice of John Cleese it’s even better. That is exactly how I did imagine it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/59 "2012-12-30T01:36:23Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Obviously, it can’t. Which is why I don’t believe you. > > ERs are not obligated to furnish pregnancy tests and the like. They are obligated only to treat bona fide emergencies. I don’t see how a hospital could stay in business giving free care to anybody who comes in for routine treatment, and I don’t see why they would run an emergency room that way even if they had unlimited funds, because, as you noted, it would delay care for the people who really need it. > > I know nothing about you, and I don’t know if some states or cities might have laws requiring the kind of treatment you describe (I _do_ know that the federal law that prohibits ERs from turning away true emergencies allows them to turn away non-emergencies), so if I’m wrong, I apologize. But this sounds like an Obamacare version of the welfare queen driving a Cadillac — the kind of made-up stuff that gets circulated by right-wing mailing lists. **newcrasher** isn’t that kind of poster, TonySinclair. He’s been around awhile, and is known to be a pretty sincere and charitable guy. ---
**Author:** ![newcrasher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b3f665/32.png) [@newcrasher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcrasher)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2012, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506/60 "2012-12-30T01:48:09Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Obviously, it can’t. Which is why I don’t believe you. > > ERs are not obligated to furnish pregnancy tests and the like. They are obligated only to treat bona fide emergencies. I don’t see how a hospital could stay in business giving free care to anybody who comes in for routine treatment, and I don’t see why they would run an emergency room that way even if they had unlimited funds, because, as you noted, it would delay care for the people who really need it. > > I know nothing about you, and I don’t know if some states or cities might have laws requiring the kind of treatment you describe (I _do_ know that the federal law that prohibits ERs from turning away true emergencies allows them to turn away non-emergencies), so if I’m wrong, I apologize. But this sounds like an Obamacare version of the welfare queen driving a Cadillac — the kind of made-up stuff that gets circulated by right-wing mailing lists. You don’t know what you are talking about. As hard as it is to believe, we are obligated to treat everyone who comes in. We treated a guy who came in yesterday who woke up with chill bumps. We triage and treat everyone. Consider your ignorance addressed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-i-have-a-new-job-in-the-er-and-it-is-making-me-prejudiced/645506.md?page=4)