A Problem Mentality

 

 

I thought I had a problem

For which I sought a solution

Only to create a situation

That caused a real problem.

 

Has this happened to you

Or, was it only me?

If it has, please don’t deny it,

Tell me, honestly.

 

I once heard of a man

Whose leg was amputated

Only to be told by the surgeon

The wrong leg was extricated.

 

And as if this were not enough

Nothing was wrong with the other,

A misdiagnosis by the surgeon

Had now become his bother.

No real problem at the first

But a solution had been sought,

The patient, now an amputee,

Was especially distraught.

 

If a problem cannot be found

This in itself becomes one,

Problems attend us when we come

Up until when we are gone.

 

No such thing as no problem,

Not in this present life!

So, if you believe you have none,

That in itself spells strife.

 

Women are especially good

At this strange phenomenon,

They go out of their way, it seems,

To ensure there is a problem.

 

Then they are trouble makers

Who go in search of problems,

Not to mention the problem prone:

They will always find them.

 

 

Call it creating problems:

People with an unusual skill

And like a glutton and his food,

These must have their fill.

 

I have a problem mentality,

I need to go out and find one

So, if you suddenly miss me,

That’s because I am gone.

 

Gone to find my problem,

My addiction urgently needs one

So here is just where I will stop

Because I must be gone.

 

Stewart Russell © June 27, 2023

 

Doctors Practice Lawyers Too

 

 

Doctors practice medicine

And their practicing never stops

Except when like their patients

They too finally drop.

 

Seems to me we take a risk

When to the doctor we go,

Since they are always practicing,

What do they really know?

 

Be it a surgeon or physician

Practice is their thing,

At what point do they get real

And stop this rehearsing?

 

They get degree after degree

And still they practice medicine,

They practice on me and on you too

We all go out on a limb.

 

 

“Doctors practice medicine,”

A father once told his son,

“Don’t you ever go to one,”

And he was not making fun.

 

While doctors practice medicine

Lawyers have a law practice,

The difference lies in the parts of speech

But they too are a risk.

 

With both it must be a practice

Because we always have to go back,

Forwards and backwards we must go-

A dent in our pay pack.

 

Teachers don’t practice teaching

Postmen don’t have a postal practice,

They do what they have to do

With them it is not hit or miss.

  

But you’ll lie on a doctor’s bed

And he’ll knock and press and poke

And just for practicing medicine

He’ll demand of you some notes.

 

Lawyers are no different

They have a law practice,

But they see themselves as professionals

That will cleverly hit or miss.

 

 

Whether one or the other

You will still have to pay,

In order to sustain their law practice

That is their customary way.

 

It doesn’t matter their training

Neither the depth nor the height,

Practice is where they’re always at,

That certainly gives me a fright.

 

Please do not fault my spelling

I’ve been Americanized,

The English spelling is atrocious-

Their spelling I despise.

 

 

Noun and verb are different,

Why can’t they be the same?

They come over better with the ‘c’

‘The ‘s’ sounds a little lame.

 

But whether practice or practise

It’s what these professionals do,

Doctors practice medicine

But lawyers have a practice too.

 

If practice makes perfect

Why can’t they achieve perfection?

I promise to ask a doctor or lawyer-

One must answer my question.

 

Stewart Russell © October 26, 2020