Letters to the editor: 09/06/01

Working for El Bayadi was a 'good ride'

To the Editor:

As Dr. El Bayadiıs nurse for 32 years, I would like to tell what kind of a man he was to work for.

I graduated nursing school in 1968, was a nurse at C.J. Harris Hospital when Dr. T.D. Slagle hired me. When Dr. Slagle died, Dr. El Bayadi, his new partner, kept me on as his nurse. He claimed he "got stuck" with me and always called me "the albatross around his neck." When I would do something he didnıt like, heıd hold up his hands, roll his eyes and say, "Why, Dr. Slagle, why?"

When my daughter Lea Anne was born, I was going to quit work, but Dr. El Bayadi said, "Why donıt you bring her to work with you?" So I did. Lea Anne stayed with me at work until she was 8 months old. That was back when not many businesses allowed such flexibility.

I remember one of Dr. Slagleıs patients. After the doctor died, she wasnıt so sure she wanted Dr. El Bayadi to be her doctor because she only wanted a doctor who believed in God. She wanted me to find out if Dr. El Bayadi believed in God. I was terrified to ask him, but one day I got up the nerve and said, "Dr. El Bayadi, what do you believe?" He told me very curtly, "Well, Iım a Christian, if that is what you are trying to find out!"

One day a patient came to the office with a bamboo splinter from a clothes basket in her hand. Dr. El Bayadi wasnıt there, so she decided I would take it out. Well, I got all the instruments out, put her hand on the table and started, and guess who should come in the back door? I just knew I was fired. I ran and hid in the closet and left the patient sitting there.

Dr. El Bayadi came over and opened the closet door and said, "You might as well finish what you started." Nurses at the hospital at that time can understand what terror he could strike in you.

In 1997, my daddyıs (Earl Rickman) health failed and he would go to the adult day care. But on holidays and vacations, they wouldnıt have the day care. Dr. El Bayadi said, "Bring your dad to work with you," and I did.

Daddy would sit in the waiting room and "greet" patients and have such a good time talking to them. Some days he would say, "I donıt believe I feel well enough to go to day care" just so he could go to work with me. He loved Dr. El Bayadi and his wife, Marion, and they were so good to him. He always called him, "Dr. Barody."

Now when you go to the doctor, about the first thing they ask is "Do you have insurance or can you pay?" Dr. El Bayadi never did that. If a patient couldnıt pay, he would tell Anna, his office manager, to simply mark off their bill.

Many people never saw the generosity and kindness of that man. If a patient could not afford his prescription, Dr. El Bayadi would call up the pharmacy and have it charged to his office. Heıd also go see patients, even if he wasnıt on call; he was one of the few remaining doctors who made house calls.

I live in Franklin and I would like to thank all of Dr. El Bayadiıs patients for making me feel so much at home in Jackson County. I love them like family. And I want to thank Anna Allen for being my mentor and the sister I never had. I worked with her for 29 years and she saved me from the wrath of Dr. El Bayadi many times.

My love and appreciation to Marion and their daughters, Karen and Sandy. And to Dr. El Bayadi, I would like to say, "Itıs been a good ride!"

Linda Tippett

Franklin

'Catman' needs your help

To the Editor:

Many in this community are familiar with the Catman2 cats-only, no-kill shelter located in Cashiers. Some do not know that Harold Sims, the owner of the shelter, is currently in the process of relocating to Bo Cove Road in Cullowhee.

Sims and his wife, Kay, give tirelessly of their time and energy to serve the needs of homeless and unwanted cats. They rescue animals from the local shelter, those who have been abandoned or are stray and those whose owners are unable to continue to care for them.

All animals available for adoption have been spayed or neutered and have received other appropriate veterinary care including shots. The Sims receive no public funding and must rely on donations and adoption fees to carry on their work. They regularly dig into their own pockets to meet expenses.

Sims provides an invaluable service to this area, not only to the animals but also to the people who reside here. I am requesting that people look into their hearts and offer him assistance in the form of donations and, even more importantly, labor to build the new shelter. He desperately needs people to assist in the construction of the facility. You need not have construction skills, just a desire to be of help.

Anyone willing to volunteer their time for this worthwhile project is urged to call Dr. Sims at 743-3559. The animals and animal lovers in this community will be forever grateful.

Carolyn Diamond

Sylva

If only the world were filled with nice people

To the Editor:

I'd like to share with your readers a good experience I had last week.

As I finished shooting a roll of film and tried to rewind it, I realized it wasn't working. I opened the back of the camera and discovered that the film had broken, and all of it was wrapped around my camera spool. I shut the camera and decided to take it to Wal-Mart to see if there was any hope of saving the pictures of my family and friends here and in Florida.

A young woman at the camera counter told me without hesitation that she could rewind the film and put it into an envelope to be sent off for developing. (Wal-Mart doesn't develop the type of film I had used.)

At that moment, a co-worker who'd overheard our conversation mentioned that the envelope would be opened by someone on the other end and thus exposed. He then volunteered to rewind the film into its original container. He grabbed a box with black draping on the front and openings for his hands and began the tedious task. It took him at least five seemingly long minutes, and he was able to rewind almost every bit of the film.

When I gratefully asked both the woman and man what I owed, they told me that there was no charge. I told them that I'd do something nice for them.

I am so grateful to these two individuals, not only for giving their time and consideration and for saving my pictures, but also for reaffirming my faith in the goodness of people.

If only the world were filled with more people like you, especially those in service positions.

Sincerely,

Toni D. Knott

Cullowhee

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