Friedman of the Plains

Share this post

User's avatar
Friedman of the Plains
Your Tuesday Jack

Your Tuesday Jack

Brothers in Parm

Barry Friedman's avatar
Barry Friedman
Apr 19, 2022
∙ Paid
29

Share this post

User's avatar
Friedman of the Plains
Your Tuesday Jack
11
Share

Yesterday, Monday, I took my father to visit his doctor, our old friend and occasional guest in these parts, Dr. John Schumann, senior medical director of the whole damn shebang at Oak Street Health, for his 6-month checkup.

“Does the doctor know we’re coming?” my father asked, as we pulled into the parking lot.

“Yeah. They scheduled the appointment.”

“Who did? You did or they did?”

“They did.”

“What do you mean ‘they did’?”

“They called and said it was time for your checkup.”

“Why did they call you?”

“Who else are they going to call?”

“Yeah, but they called you — why?”

“To tell me it was time for your checkup.”

“My checkup?”

“Your checkup.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are we here?”

“For a checkup.”

“Oh, you mean —”

“Yeah, a checkup.”

“So they just want to check?”

“Yeah.”

“Why’d they call you?”

“Again, because I take care of these things.”

“Did they have your number?”

“No. They made wild stabs on their phone’s keypad and got lucky — of course they have my number. I’m the person they call when it comes to you.”

“It’s funny they called you.”

“Not really that funny.”

“So do they know we’re here?”

“As soon as we walk in to the office they will, which, at this rate, may never happen.

We enter.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Friedman of the Plains to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Barry Friedman
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share