I Remembered Diane
Standing in the checkout line, I reached into my wallet and grabbed my debit card .
I was my usual Friday Trader Joes run.
I looked up and saw an elderly woman walk by.
A sense of calm and peacefulness crept over me when I saw her.
“That will be $110.85” the cheerful checker– who already recommended gorgonzola cheese to go on top of my mixed greens– interrupted my calm moment.
I took the debit card and inserted into the wobbly card swiper.
And went back to my business of loading my cart and headed to the car.
It has been an interesting week
So many patients are using AI to interface with, signing up for online digital programs, using apps, and even signing up for programs to order their own labs.
You can see the temptation.
Taking the charge of ones own health.
Feeling empowered with knowledge data.
Breaking free of the unsupportive health care system.
And AI – wow –you can almost feel like you can figure out all your problems with a deep chat with the machine.
In fact many feel they can come to visits with self-ordered-labwork and a chat-gpt generated diagnosis and direct the care from the jump.
Its such a change from 20 years ago when I first hung my shingle.
That was before EHR .
Information was gathered through reading books, journal articles, attending courses, and taking certifications.
We had paper charts.
Labs were faxed to us or snail mailed.
Patients read health books and magazines for information.
Patients took notes during the visit.
They left the visit with a plan hand written on a sheet.
And the next time you saw or heard from them was at the follow up.
Fast forward to 2026
Between visits patients are scrolling, chatting, ordering their own labs, listening to podcasts, sharing in online forums , seeing multiple providers and at the follow up visits they come with a whole new experience and set of information.
I have friends that tell me that Dr.’s will be replaced by AI soon.
Maybe , who knows.
I grabbed my keys and started thinking about making dinner and maybe getting a quick workout in before Shabbat started.
And then I saw her again.
The same peaceful feeling came over me and my brain started putting it together as I loaded my trunk.
‘The Bank –20 years ago –paper checks –rushing on Fridays to make deposits to keep afloat –the warm teller who always was kind to me and wishing me well –that’s her!’
”Diane?!” I said ,
For a moment she paused and looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about.
“From the bank?" I said with a bit of a crack in my voice realizing that I might have just misfired.
“Yes! that’s me” she said.
Now in her early 80’s she took a moment to get her bearings straight.
“How are you doing ? You used to be in Kirkland right?”
We started to catch up a bit.
“Glad to see that you are doing so well” She said.
Even though by no means did I imply that I was a success by any regards.
But her complement felt good.
“You know how I remembered you Diane?” I said in my parting words.
“I remembered you because of the way you made me feel; you remember people by the way the make me you feel”.
She smiled and said goodbye.
Earlier in the day , a long-time patient said to me that she wanted to meet with me because “ I know her well and understand her” .
She brought the same line of questions that could easily be fed into chat GPT.
But instead they were fed into “Me-GPT” …wink wink.
And the texture, granularity, history, and weight of her questions were filtered through a 15 year screen play I have in my mind of our experience together and her life path.
Humans feel.
Humans have emotions.
Humans create space for other Humans.
That makes us remember
That makes us an irreplaceable technology.
Yet, remembering Diane and being chosen over AI made me realize once again that humans will always have a place as long as we are serving each other for the good.
For now, at least.
P.S. this purposely wasn’t edited. Just raw.