A second look

Yesterday I had a second look at my new cardiologist as he helped perform an echo stress test. I didn't like him on my initial appointment three weeks ago. As I have said before the first thing I noticed on that visit as he walked through the door was that he was black. It surprised me because in this small town that is very unusual. I don't consider myself prejudice, but I did notice.

I was not very impressed with his manner because he didn't look at me when he was talking to me and appeared to be very nervous. I considered this rather odd for someone of his stature and obvious training. I wasn't really looking forward to yesterday's stress test.

The technicians were great and I began to relax, and then the cardiologist joined us. I was actually pleasantry surprised to find he had a sense of humor. He even looked at me when communicating. Is this the same man I wondered?  Perhaps someone told him I didn't like his attitude.

The test went well and we then sat in a little office so he could talk to me. My attitude about him brightened as he even shared his own story of changes in his blood pressure as he got older. As I thought about our little talk I realized that my attitude had changed with a second look.  Perhaps he was just having a bad day on my initial visit.

As I was driving home I also realized that I hadn't even noticed the color of his skin.