The Long View.(satire)(Brief Article)

midtown mental health clinic

octor's Notes

patient: B. Clinton treated since: January 27th, 2001 insurance: Federal/OK

September 12th, 2001

Patient calls private number and demands an appointment. Doctor reminds him that his scheduled session isn't for another week, and that we just had a session on September 10th. He replies that he is depressed by the events and that he needs someone to work it out with. Doctor replies that the next several days are actually pretty full, and whatever time doctor has will be spent volunteering downtown as a grief counselor. Patient becomes irate. What about my grief? he asks. You don't think I hurt, too? You don't think this kills me? I mean, me, especially? Doctor cautions patient against appearing in public or on television with that attitude. What attitude? patient asks. All I'm saying, patient continues, is that I'm a victim of this thing too. Maybe, in a way, I'm the biggest victim. Doctor agrees to see patient as soon as possible.

September 14th, 2001

Patient's attitude seems to have stabilized. He now sees that the thousands of people in the World Trade Center towers, the hundreds of firefighters, rescue workers, and police, and their families and friends, are the true victims of September 11th, and that while he no doubt feels their pain (a phrase I have forbidden in our sessions as unnecessarily projective and delusional) he is in no way a victim of the events, is in no way directly touched by them, and is in no way hurting the hardest.