What's Wrong with People?

This week I have witnessed an unusual amount of weird, random, and inappropriate things around town. Call me crazy, but there are just some things that I feel aren't appropriate, especially when one reaches a certain age. I took care of a patient the other day whose mother has an eyebrow piercing. This woman has to be at least fourty and I think it looks ridiculous. It would be one thing if she was a funky, hip woman with tattoos and other piercings, but she's far from it (think short, fat, bleach blonde hair, in front of a trailer). Maybe I'm being judgemental, but sometimes as an adult you have to realize some fashion trends have age limits, especially when you're a mom! The craziest thing is that I was talking to one of the doctors I work with about this woman and the minute I said "she has an eyebrow piercing", the doc knew exactly who I was talking about, probably because she's in the ER all the time. This of course brings up another inappropriate thing that happens way too often these days- the use of the ER as your doctor. It's called an EMERGENCY room for a reason. I shouldn't see anyone often enough that I know your name, medical history, allergies, kids names, pets, and where you went on vacation this summer! And unfortunately there are plenty of patients that I can say this about! Trying to educate people about how this is not what the ER is meant for is a waste of time and effort, they just don't get it. Trust me, I've tried. Even when we screen people out (ie tell them we aren't going to treat them unless they pay because their problem isn't an emergency), they still keep coming back for the same type problems. Now there are a few patients that I see on a fairly regular basis because they are accident prone or just have bad luck. Those people I don't mind because they actually have a reason to be in the ER. I did have a pretty interesting patient that bears mentioning because it''s not something I see every day- I guess he fits in the weird category. He was using a sledge hammer to nail in a large metal nail (I think of it like a railroad steak thing), when it shattered. Part of the nail head went through his pants, into his leg making a cut, travelled though his leg, came out, made another cut, and lodged in his leg. It was kind or cool. Since it was metal it showed up really well on x-ray, making it really easy to locate. I was able remove it pretty easily and it ended up being over 1cm long and about 1/2 cm wide. I let him keep it because he said his friends would never believe him. It was the highlight of my day. I know, I'm weird.
The next thing I witnessed was less inappropriate, and more just plain dangerous! I was on the interstate behind this car, when I noticed this man has his arm hanging out the window. I don't mean resting it out the window, it was hanging down beside the car. What if a car had swerved into his lane going 70 mph?!?! His arm would have been smashed or even ripped off! Some people are just stupid and I think he deserves a sign!
Okay, I'm done ranting for now. I work 5 days this week though, so I'm sure I'll witness a few more stupid and inappropriate things!