Microstory 738: Credos, Convention Ten: Congeniality, Chapter One

< > Table of Contents

The small town had but one physician. This physician hated everybody, but put up with them, because he had a monopoly on the market. Since he was the only medical professional around, he knew he could do whatever he wanted with his patients. He could charge whatever he wanted, lazily prescribe medication, or even refuse to see them at all, if he just didn’t feel like it. Everyone hated him back, but of course, there was little they could do about it. Though there were other physicians in the region, they had struck secret deals with each other, to prevent any one of them from gaining an edge over the others. Plus, traveling to these other towns was often not worth the trouble. Though no one was outwardly racist, citizens of the other towns tended to be rather opposed to visitors. One day, the rude physician fell ill himself, but was unable to carry out his own treatment. He tried to self-medicate, but nothing was working. He would have to go far away to find a peer, but he was in no condition to operate a vehicle. He started stumbling around town, asking people for transport, but no one was nice enough to agree. He contacted other physicians, asking them to come to him instead, but they all rejected him. It was the rude physician’s idea to unethically keep prices high, and not compete with each other, and this was causing them their own problems. No one wanted to help, and the rude physician eventually wandered into the woods, and died.