“I will kill you!” the man screamed. He paced up and down the narrow room. A nurse could see me through a window on the wall. I tried to appear calm. It was my first week as a psychiatry trainee, and I wanted to prove that I knew what I was doing. Be cool, I said. You can deal with this. The man looked at me, studying me with narrowed eyes. “You worship elephants, don’t you?” How to answer the...
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One April afternoon, I thought I was going to die. I was driving down the I 55, a few miles south of St Louis. Suddenly the car began gliding sideways, hydroplaning, spinning and turning on the freeway. It came to a stop, perpendicular to the fast lane. As I watched a SUV hurtle towards me, all I could think of was, “Wish I had side air-bags. Should’ve bought that BMW.” Rather materialistic, as...
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