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Show minutes. You will disrobe rapidly." "Now just a by-dad minute Doc old boy. I'll do what?" 'Disrobe means undress. Tou will put on the gown you will find there for which we charge only laundry costs, 87 cents." "Ha, got you there, my pill-pushing pill-pushing friend. I brought my own gown. Look. Aint it a beauty?" "Very pretty, Mrs. Jones. Much too pretty for me to split up the back." "O.K., Doc. So then what?" "You know what, Mrs. Jones. You've been in here before." "Yeah, but what's it gonna cost?" "DOES TEN DOLLARS sound all right? You see, Mrs. Jones, all this equipment and material and rent and help counts up, and I'm still payingon my education, and I don't think ten bucks is too much to ask, do you? Besides, Be-sides, I've got a waiting room full of people and it's past lunch time and that sounds like an ambulance at the back door and will you please make up your cotton-pickin' mind if any?" "Well, Doc, if that's the way you feel about it I'll just find me another medical physician and get his prices. You haven't done a thing for me but peek down my throat and tell me to eat. Just try to collect." Exit Mrs. Jones. Nerve pill for the doctor. Can't you imagine? Mac. THE AMERICAN Medical Association, very powerful governing gov-erning body for doctors, has suggested that it's the thing to do; Ask your doctor what it's going to cost before he starts the job. So here's how it might work: Picture any doctor with the waiting room packed, suffering from a nervous headache, and any average lady entering his sanctum. "Well, Mrs. Jones, what seems to be our trouble?" "I'll tell you, Doc, there's so much wrong with me that I'm afraid I can't afford to tell you. Give me a price on the overall over-all winter check-up job." (PHYSICIANS DETEST being called Doc except by their closest clos-est friends.) "Pretty hard to give you a price until we find out what's wrong. Tell me, for instance." "Well, my throat's sore. Just terrible. Can't hardly swallow." "All right, open wide. Say ah." "How much?" "That's 35 cents per ah. Today, To-day, three for a dollar. Hmmm. Nothing serious. Throat medicine will be $2.95. Now what else?" "I GET A CRICK in my left knee. Right here. How much?" "Left knee tests are $1.65, right knee free." "Skip it, Doc. The crick aint that bad. Besides, you're just pulling my leg. That's a joke, Doc. Get it? Now I'm on a diet and sometimes I get this awful empty feeling in my stomach. What shall I do?" "Eat. And that's a three-letter, three-letter, three-dollar word. Mrs. Jones, there's nothing much wrong with you so far. Do you want a complete physical?" "How much?" Well, I'll have my nurse come in. That will be $3.99. You will go in that little room which rents for $2.50 for 15 |