Not long ago I was more or less reviewing the offerings of Gonzaga University, where you can get a Masters degree online. In that post I mentioned my recent trip to the dentist as my wife’s chauffeur, and a colorful individual I met in the waiting room.

Maybe met was not the right word. This dude was a maniac of extrovertedness. He was loud and brash and…I think the correct word might be garrulous. He was seriously off the wall. He flirted equally with the middle aged receptionist (you don’t drink, you’re not 21 yet, no way) and my 4 months old daughter (oh my god she’s so beautiful). He was 19 and allegedly attending nursing school. He has a 1 year old son with his ex-girlfriend. “Yup,” he said hitching up his crotch-at-the-knees jeans, “responsibility.”

It reminded me of the Rugrats movie when baby Dil was born and little Tommy learned all about “responsitility” from his Dad. Then he used the pocket watch as a compass to get home in the Reptar carriage/wagon…but that’s neither here nor there.

The point was, there was this crazy insane dude in the waiting room at the dentist, and as crazy insane dudes are wont to do, he gravitated toward me. I am somehow a crazy insane dude magnet. Trust me, I have stories lots of them. Like the Vietnam vet who was going to the Peekskill VA when I was in high school who sat with me and Adam and told us, among other things, about mashing a man’s eyeball on his forehead. Or Billy, the verbose traveller who borrowed the bike from the “home” and pedalled his way into the picnic that was my first date with my future wife. Just two of the many, I assure you.

Anyway, I keep thinking about the crazy insane dude and how he chattered on and on to me while he was supposed to be filling out his first-time patient paperwork. Honestly, at the rate he progressed, he is probably still writing. The thing is, he kept speaking about attending nursing school, and while his seemed to be an admirable goal, I have to say I just don’t see it. I don’t want to shoot crazy insane dude down, I don’t want to stereotype him as unfit for a career in the healing arts, but…well…

I guess there is also a fundamental difference between crazy insane dude and the people who pursue advanced degrees. Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the Gonzaga program would be just what the doctor ordered (hee hee, that’s funny because doctors often instruct nurses what to do…I mean, “order” may be a little un-P.C. or whatever, but, well, it’s a funny, just deal with it) for crazy insane dude. Maybe the chance to get an advanced nursing degree from a top ranked school on his own schedule would be just what he needed. Ad in the process he wouldn’t be able to drive other students nuts with his crazy insane verbosity.

I don’t know. In the end, people in healthcare need access to the  best, brightest, and most cutting edge, and if the flexibility of distance learning works for people with extensive other responsibilities (or even responsitilities) then I say rock on!