Yesterday I decided to slip away from my conference to visit a local hospital here in Chiang Mai. I wanted to see a dermatologist about a funny spot above my eyebrow. I stopped off at the check-in desk and they sent me to the fourth floor, where the sweet nurses escorted me to a nice waiting room.
About 5 minutes later, another nurse came in and called me to a desk in the room. Beside the desk was a blood-pressure measuring contraption into which I was instructed to stick my arm. I did so, and it squeezed. When it had locked on the reading, it (the machine) announced in a loud "voice" what my blood pressure was. For some reason in Asia, there is an affinity for machines that talk. Now everyone in the room knew what my blood pressure was. It spit out a piece of paper which I get to keep as a souvenier of my visit.
After taking my blood pressure for all the patients to see, she had me stand on the scale in the waiting room. I did so, praying with all my might that it was not another talking machine! Fortunately, it wasn't.
When I did get in to see the dermatologist, she pronounced my spot to be nothing of consequence. I stopped off at the cashier and paid my $9 and left.