I went to pick up my new checks and ATM card (just as you do at the deli or a bakery) to wait to see a teller.

There are no lines. You just sit and wait for your number to be shown on a screen with an arrow pointing to the right teller.

I had to wait awhile, but in a comfortable chair.

I watched how the numbers would be pressed by the tellers with a 2-second wait before the next number was pressed.

This May Take Awhile

By the time an older couple got out of their seats and made it to a teller, 2 other people had their numbers called.

When my time came, I never made it out of my seat before a guy whose number was called after mine literally ran to the teller.

We got there about the same time.

I showed the teller that my number was before his. He started screaming at me.

I stood up for my rights by informing the teller that she pressed another number before I could even get out of my seat and that since my number was first I should be served first.

Two for One?

The teller didn't know what to do.

She told us both to sit down at her desk because she was going to help us both at the same time.

There is no such thing as privacy here.

Then, when I asked to withdraw money from my account, I was told I had to get another number and wait for a different teller for that.

I ended up going to the ATM machine.

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Again, no privacy, because on the screen in front of me, for everyone in the world to see, in large letters and numbers, is the balance I have in my account. I could not believe it.

Difference in Doctor Customs

I went to the doctor last week.

He asked if it were true that American doctors have offices with many examination rooms and all they did was pop their head into the rooms to see their patients for a couple of minutes while their staffs did everything else.

I told him “not exactly.”

But it is definitely a different system here.

The doctor's private office here is also his examination room. The phone rings, he answers it.

He runs your health card through a machine and takes your co-pay, which is never more than $6 (and that includes office visits, lab tests, x-rays, ultrasounds).

There is an examination table, a desk with a computer, and a few chairs. He personally inputs everything about you into the computer so that every other doctor you visit has your whole history at his fingertips.

All lab tests, x-rays, and ultrasound results are also on the computer.

Calling Out to America

Although medication here is different, the doctor inputs the name of your U.S. medication and comes up with something similar.

The computer prints out the prescription and the doctor signs it.

Every doctor I have been to so far has the same office set-up and procedures.

Some doctors see their patients in a clinic setting, medical office building, and some even have their offices in a room in their house.

It kind of reminds me of the 1950s tv program the Donna Reed Show where her husband doctor (Carl Betz — how is that for trivia?) sees patients in his home.

Am I dating myself or what?

Israel wants American doctors. They are offering $60,000 free and clear just for a U.S. doctor to move here.

That isn’t salary or anything, just an incentive to come.

I guess many of the Israeli doctors are moving to the San Fernando Valley where there is supposed to be the greatest number of ex-Israelis outside of Israel (not just doctors), even more so than in New York.

L'hitraot, Shachar