Happy Nurses Week

[Flower10]

What had garnered some lovely thoughts was the story on, "Perceptions versus Reality – A Cup of Tea Please!" by Dr. R.

Two days ago I was just leaving work – after what seemed to be a long day. I decided to retrieve my personal telephone messages. One message came from a dear friend, Dr. P. (of Caucasian background); she said, Hi, Dr. Vi, can we meet later over a nice cup of tea?” Dr. P's went on to say, I am going to call Nurse M (referring to Nurse-Educator M of Latino background and currently working on her PhD); I would like her to join us.” Dr. P continued, Dr. Vi, can you call Dr. R (of Indio Chinese background) to see if she too wanted to join us?”

I gladly returned Dr. P's message as I thought, I could do with a cup of tea and some special friends to share ideas with concerning issues ranging from ladies' stuff”, power imbalances, gender differences, and others; the list goes on.” I called Dr. R asking if she too could join us. Dr. R agreed to join us. All four of us ladies decided to carpool. Dr. P drove her new SUV which we all fitted in comfortably. We went to an up-scaled café in town. Dr. P appeared to know the ins and outs of these up-scaled cafés.

We arrived at the café and chose a cozy cornered table. Dr. P. asked, Did you see the ‘campaign ad' published via Yahoo on April 2^nd 2016) in which one girl rested her hand on the head of another girl and it became a controversy?”

I responded, Yes I saw it; it appeared like girls having fun; the ad showed that girls can perform as well as boys in terms of being active.” I went on to say, Soon these girls will grow up to be women who view themselves as individuals who can do anything – the sky is the limit!”

Dr. P stated, Don't get me wrong, to me this is showing that from a young age this girl is learning how to disrespect ‘Other' girls and when she grows up her learned behavior may allow her to treat ‘Other' women unfairly with disrespect and impunity.”

Nurse M, replied, This ad could garner negative perceptions.”

I interjected by saying, We need to see this ad in a positive light. Not because some of us have been robbed of opportunities and cannot stop thinking about our hurt and disappointment, we should be thinking positively and outside the box.” I went on to say, I have had the opportunity of meeting some decent, educated, trustworthy, unselfish, and eloquent women who have inspired not just me, but other women. Therefore, my experience involving those few is unworthy of being discussed here.

Dr. R replied, I personally view the ad as one way to engage girls of different races/ cultures. It is great that this ad is helping to embrace ethnicity/ diversity in marketing schemes.”

We, four ladies, touched on politics, health care, and viable relationships before ending the evening on one discussion around fashion and designer purses, to name a few, by Coach, Michael Kors, and Gucci.

At the end of our social tea gathering, we four ladies (females/ women) remained respectful of each other's point of view despite our differences in race/ethnicity/ background, creed, profession, or claim as we disagreed to agree.

Or Dr. R meant, "agreed to disagree?"