too little too late

when i was working at witbank hospital i had financial problems based on not being paid. i touched on it in a very early post. as part of the solution i approached a private surgeon working in the private hospital. i asked if there was any possibility that i could do after hours work there to augment my salary. the guy was overjoyed and even delt me into the calls of the next month. he, however, said that i'd need to chat to the other two private surgeons to get their blessing.so i made appointments with them and both said that it sounded good.

i then approached the administration. they too were overjoyed. they even took me on an orientation through the hospital. i looked forward to at last getting some money.

about a week later the administration called me back for a meeting. they informed me that two of the surgeons had held a meeting with them (the last two that i met with). they had basically said that if the administration permitted me to do any work there whatsoever, they would withdraw from calls. this caused the first guy to also lose enthusiasm for the plan. he was hoping to do one in four calls instead of one in three. if the other two withdrew he would have to do one in two, which didn't appeal to him.

the administration assured me they wanted me to stay in witbank and would approach the delinquent surgeons to see if they could sway them. i said i'd approach the other guy and ask his advice. the administration then assured me they would get back to me. until such time, i was not to do any work in the private hospital.

i went to the first surgeon. he told me he really wanted me to be involved but was not willing to sacrifice his relationship with the other two guys to help me. i was on my own.

i left and waited for the call. it never came. in fact part of the reason that i went to nelspruit was the promise of being able to do after hours work in their private hospital.

but strangely enough, today i got a call from witbank private hospital administration. it seems there is too much work there now for the surgeons working there and they are desperately looking for another guy to help with the load. it also seems that the instigator of their initial resistance to me is becoming less willing to do after hours work. in short, they are in a difficult situation.

i thanked them for the call (i didn't mention that it was about a year and a half too late), but i politely declined. they asked me if i knew of anyone who would be willing to go there. i considered reminding them that, due to the many coal burning power stations in the area, the pollution was quite bad and no one in their right mind would take a job there if there was absolutely any other option. i also mentioned to them that there is an overall deficit of general surgeons in the country and they would struggle to find someone. i wanted to say that they should have invested in me when they had the chance and when i really needed a financial boost, but i also kept that inside of me. to be honest i did have a malicious thought aimed at the surgeons there (two of them at least) hoping that they suffer under their loads.

in the end i thought about the beautiful place i live in now and the fact that if i had established myself there i may never have moved here. so in the end i have no real bad feelings to them.