Moaning and Groaning
By Gene Aronowitz
In early 1986, I felt numbness in my shoulder, and the primary care physician at my health maintenance organization (HMO) assumed it was a pinched nerve and referred me to a local hospital for physical therapy. I did what I was told, even though my pain was very mild. All around me, in the adjoining curtain-draped cubicles of a large room, patients moaned and groaned.
I received a pleasant massage and electrical stimulation, which I was told would strengthen my back muscles and improve blood circulation. I appreciated and benefited from the treatments, and I returned for two more appointments, continuing to enjoy the delightful experience.
Even though the patients around me varied each week, those in the adjoining cubicles seemed to be suffering, which increased the embarrassment I felt about taking up the therapists' time when I thought they should be treating those with more serious issues. I said to my therapist, “I want to stop coming so you can take care of those people who I hear moaning and groaning.
He smiled, looked at me, and said, “Don't be a shmuck. The people around you are getting better, and so are you. The moaning and groaning I worry about are those I hear coming from the HMO that is paying for this.”
A version of this memoir is included in the book 23 More Memoirs.