Podiatrist

"So," I asked, "how did you decide to become a foot doctor?"

"It was 1971, and I was in my senior year of college in Philly. Every day I had class I would go stand by the bus stop with my thumb out. If I didn't get a ride, I'd pay a quarter to ride the bus. If someone picked me up, I saved a quarter.

"I planned to go on to medical school and become a doctor because I didn't want to go to Vietnam. Who did? So I was going to just stay in school. Well, one day this guy in scrubs picked me up and asked where I was going. I told him and he said he was going right by there.

"I thought that was funny, because I knew the med school was in the opposite direction. Oh yeah, he said, but I'm going to podiatry school. I'd never even thought about that. So I asked how hard was it to get in. Not as hard as med school, he said. I decided to look into it. There were 5 podiatry schools in the US then, one in New York, one in Philly, one in Cleveland, one n Texas and one in California.

"I got accepted at all of them. I'd been in Philly, knew New York, and didn't want to go all the way to California. So I chose Cleveland.

"I learned something while I was at school in Cleveland. The sun never shines there. So when I graduated, I got a job in Florida. I was there for 20 years at the VA as a part-timer, but I wanted full time so when I saw the opening here, I moved north."

"My mother is still in Philadelphia. She's 88 and still hangs all her laundry outside, even in winter. She hardly ever wears shoes. Her feet are tough as nails."

Sometimes, all you have to do is ask, and you hear a good story.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.