AN ANECDOTE

A guy I met the other day was walking in Southern Patagonia, when he became concerned about a pain on the side of his toe. Being in the middle of nowhere, there were no hospitals nearby, so he visited the local Tourist Information Centre to find out where he might get medical attention. There was one lady on reception, and he explained his problem to her.

"Don`t worry," she said. "We have a medical centre here. Come with me."

It turned out that the lady on reception was also the doctor. She examined his foot, confirmed that it was a veruca, and dealt with it on the spot.

"Thank you very much," said the man. "How much do I owe you?"

"Oh, nothing," she replied.

"But that`s incredible," he said. "In the UK, I would have had to wait for four hours in casualty. You did it in fifteen minutes."

"Ah yes," replied the doctor. "Welcome to third world medicine."