Trip to Paediatric Emergency

How's that for an attention grabbing headline! Don't worry, no babies or small children were harmed in the making of this entry.

On Tuesday, after school, Duncan and the other members of his school Wolf Cub pack went on a Get-To-See trip to the new paediatric emergency department at Stanford University Hospital and Lucile Packard's Children's Hospital. They had a great time.

The trip was arranged by the father of one of the other wolf cubs. One of the highlights was to get to sit in the hospital's helicopter.

I never had anything like this when I was a Boy Scout. I do remember that we used to sit around a lot singing songs and chanting "Dib did dib, dob dob dob, Arkela we'll do our best!". I also kept loosing my woggle. I noticed that Duncan's uniform doesn't have one. I don't know whether that's an English/American difference or forty years on, the Boy Scout movement has finally got a grip on reality.

Perhaps I should think about arranging a similar Get-To-See trip to Sun, although I don't think we have quite the attention grabbing ability. Maybe for teenage nerds and geeks, but not seven year olds. (What is the difference between a nerd and a geek by the way? Apart from the live chicken).

Back to the trip. I'm pretty sure that we don't own a helicopter. I have a vague recollection that there was a Sun executive jet, but maybe I'm just thinking of Larry Ellison. No doubt somebody higher up the Sun foodchain will put me right there.

I know a couple of things that would appeal though. We have a Formula 1 racing car in the Executive Briefing Center in Menlo Park and there is always the special leather chair on exhibit in the Auditorium on the Santa Clara Agnews campus, that was used to "cure" patients with electro-therapy treatment when the premises was an insane asylum.

What we really should do is some more of those physical April Fools jokes like stick Bill Joy's car in the middle of one of the ponds or turn one of the executives offices into a mini one-hole golf course. Let's not forget the giant arrow in Scott's office. That was fun! That was press coverage! There's too many spoof web pages and press releases nowadays on April 1st. It's not the same (although definitely cheaper).

The culmination would be to re-enact the great SMLI/SunSoft water fight of 1992. I bet every seven year old would like to see (and be involved in) that.

[Technorati Tag: Boy Scouts]

( Feb 03 2006, 08:19:11 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [3]