# Re the paging of QtM, I'm beginning to understand why doctors dread cocktail parties **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 6, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364 "2004-11-06T17:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/41 "2004-11-07T19:46:41Z")
> [@Kricket](#): > > How is Gothie doing? Drop me an email or IM please, I’ve been thinking about you guys lately. Well, I’m pretty sick today, and sitting in front of the 'puter waiting for the drugs to kick in so I can go back to sleep; (good thing there’s a doctor in this thread, eh? 😉 ). I will try to remember to do a detailed email in the next day or two. For now, let’s just say it ain’t pretty. ---
**Author:** ![Kricket](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f14d63/32.png) [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/42 "2004-11-07T22:27:34Z")
Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well and that things aren’t going well. We can take this to e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/43 "2004-11-07T23:22:28Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > If you want me specifically (to respond to some specific thing I said before), that’s different. And if you really want to get in touch with me, I do list my email addy here. Or to offer advice, or a referral, when some poor Doper wants to refute another Doper’s medicine-based statement on the board. I don’t recall the thread, and it was quite a while ago, but a question about steroids came up, and I had a powerful feeling that one poster was talking nonsense. Being without medical training, though, I couldn’t refute him. So I emailed our estimable **Qadgop** , who referred me to the equally estimable **KarlGauss** , who provided me with the medical ammunition I needed to thoroughly refute my target. Way to go, guys! Thank you once again! ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/44 "2004-11-07T23:27:16Z")
**Qadgop the Mercotan** ’s request, no “paging” but OK with the name mention, should really be standard practice for all. While doctors are the common target the same could happen if a regular poster developed up who was a dentist or an editor/publisher, for instance. And of course no names in the title. If I’m not mistaken that’s a rule/guideline and everything but I have no idea how to find out quite frankly. 🙂 The bottom line is that if someone is open for any and all questions they’ll start an “Ask the \*\*\* guy” thread. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/45 "2004-11-08T00:37:03Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > …And how many times have you read “Lord of the Rings”? Twelve. And you still know more about it than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/46 "2004-11-08T00:48:35Z")
Back to the OP. I have no problem cornering a doc at dinner and demanding medical advice. I’ll freely do it at parties, and often at Christmas. I’ve called on the phone in the middle of the night before. If I have a medical question, I want answers now, as in immediately. 'Course, the doc in question is my dad, but still… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/47 "2004-11-08T01:45:58Z")
> [@GingerOfTheNorth](#): > > Twelve. And you still know more about it than I do. That’s because I’ve read it lots more times than 12 in the last 35 years, my dear subarctic crab cake! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/48 "2004-11-08T02:04:51Z")
I just want to say, between KarlGauss and Qadgop, when I land in the hospital, I know who I want at my bedside. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/49 "2004-11-08T02:17:35Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > To me, it sounds like an open invitation to allow skimming off the top: Look the other way when the people who do the work to dip into the till every so often. > > But I’m no Biblical scholar. Paging **Diogenes**! 😉 What the hell… The quotation is from Deuteronomy 25:4 and is more simply translated as “Do not muzzle an Ox while it’s treading out the grain.” (I believe **QtM’s** particular wording is a quotation from Robert Heinlein…it does sound cooler that way). It’s meaning in Deuteronomy was completely literal. It was basically saying to let the Ox eat the grain while it was treading it. It was simply an exhortation to be humane to the animals. Paul then quoted it in 1 Corinthians in order to argue for his rights as an apostle. > [@](#): > > ( **1 Cor. 9:3-12** ) > This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 6Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living? > 7Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9For it is written in the Law of Moses: “ **Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.** ” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? Paul was trying to make a case that he deserved the same right of financial support as the other apostles were getting. He was kind of saying, hey, even if you don’t think I’m an apostle on the level of Cephas, I’m still busting my ass here. I’m the one who brought you the gospel and I’m the one who ministers to you. Don’t I deserve a little sump’n sump’n? In the next verse he then says that he’s not making any demands and that he is working without compensation but he just wants those bastards to know that he _could_ demand it if he wanted to. Anyway, the figurative meaning of the Deuteronomy verse is that those who do the work should share in the harvest. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/50 "2004-11-08T03:11:13Z")
Well then **Diogenes** , what does > [@](#): > > Wider den Tod kein Kraut gewachsen ist mean? The fatter toad waxes upon the kine’s cole slaw? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/51 "2004-11-08T03:26:53Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Well then **Diogenes** , what does > > mean? The fatter toad waxes upon the kine’s cole slaw? I like cole slaw. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/52 "2004-11-08T03:38:35Z")
The toad is a metaphor for corporate fat cats who “wax” (get fatter) upon the “cabbage” of those who toil… Oh sod it, I have a tee time to make. Read two verses and call me in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/53 "2004-11-08T16:11:35Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > Well then **Diogenes** , what does > > > [@](#): > > > > Wider den Tod kein Kraut gewachsen ist > > mean? The fatter toad waxes upon the kine’s cole slaw? It means: “There is no herb grown against death”. It’s just another one of those Public Service Announcements against the dangers of marijuana. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/54 "2004-11-08T16:26:11Z")
For the record I have never paged Dr. Q, but I think I can understand why some people do. I think that specifically paging Qadgop is not really to get his medical advice as much as to just to just get his attention because he’s so smart and dreamy. He’s sort of like the Professor of our little Straight Dope Gilligan’s Island and all us little Mary Ann’s just want to get his attention for a few minutes so he might notice us. SDMaryAnn:“Oh, Professor Qadgop! I found this plant thingy and I brought it to you because you’re so smart I’m sure you can tell me what it is.” _bats eyelashes_ Prof. Qadgop:“Yes, Mary Ann, that’s a coconut. In fact you made a pie out of one yesterday.” SDMaryAnn: _giggle_ “Oh, so I did! Silly me” Prof. Qadgop:“Well, if you don’t mind I think I’ll take this coconut and try to build a computer out of it. Good bye.” SDMaryAnn:_sigh_ “Er … wait! Um … could you look at this mole I have … it’s um … shaped like a map of Middle Earth! Yeah, that’s the ticket.” ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364/55 "2004-11-08T16:58:39Z")
Well, since a certain gentleman hasn’t joined this board and someone else has started the trend, I figured I’d just pop in and give **Qadgop** a smooch, myself. Besides, I recently came by a stack of Doc Smith novels, and I’m looking forward to learning why he was “slithering on the transship hull.” CJ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-the-paging-of-qtm-im-beginning-to-understand-why-doctors-dread-cocktail-parties/273364.md?page=2)