It's tricky. The patient is in bad shape. See reruns of Grey's Anatomy for examples. The doctor speaks to the patient,"Stay with me, Louie. Louie, look at me. Look at me! Louie!". More treatment, blood transfusions maybe. In the meantime, the family is waiting anxiously to talk to the doctor. They demand the truth (as though the doctor actually knows). In fact, the father (or in some cases, the wife or the mistress) is a tough person who can handle the truth and wants the real information. He (or she) pulls the dr. to one side and says,"Give it to me straight, Doc, what are his chances?"
It seems that most people believe that positive talk should be delivered to the patient. It might help. Speak the guy's name. Try to lift his spirits. Try to mobilize his inner resources. Positive talk might help. If there is going to be a medical miracle, it may be made more likely if the patient is in a positive and aroused condition.
Besides, it is very American to talk positively. Rah,Rah,Rah! Cheerleaders! Megaphones! Victory! Etc, etc. So you know what happens, Business, Inc. gets the idea. Bring in the Boosters. Not for Smithville but for Dollars, Inc. You can see some of this laughed at in the Dilbert cartoons.
One problem with rousing good cheer is that you can't rouse 24/7. Yes, you can cheer for the guys hunkered down in the red zone. But humans have built-in bull detectors. Beyond detecting that your cheerleaders and your up talkers and your smilers and your greeters are tired and stiff, we humans can see and feel and taste repetition, especially mechanical inauthentic repetition. Like the editor who needs the courage to cut down on the size of the text, the human relations director needs to let up on the rousing good cheer and the smiles.
I was searching for information on the poem The Pessimist when I discovered Despair, Inc. Reading the Google snippets I saw that quite a while back, someone who might have been a loyal, hardworking and motivated employee decided he had had enough of the false cheer his company's program put out and decided to found Despair, Inc. Now, you can get negative stuff anytime you need it. Despair, Inc. sells a daily calendar that "is more depressing than ever!" They sell you glasses that will help you never see the glass as half full again. They make everything taste bitter! Just check out despair.com
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
