NON,JE NE REGRETTE RIEN.(I have no regrets)

I have been a GP in Normanton for more than 20 years. I am retired now, but if anyone asked me whether I want to be practicing as a GP somewhere else other than Normanton, or if I have any regrets being a GP in Normanton, my answer would be " Non, je ne regrette rien"( I have no regrets)like the song of the French singer Madame Edith Piaf .

When I accepted the post as GP in Normanton, I thought I had landed in a dump. At that time the pits had recently closed and there was alot of unemployment in that area. Many of the people were poor. There was a lot of petty crime in the area and hardly any middle class. I felt downhearted and thought I had chosen the wrong place to practice.

After a few months of practicing I found that the folks in Normanton, though they may be poor, were very decent people. Whenever I went out to visit a patient I was welcomed into their house . They let me sit in the best place in the house and offered me a cup of tea. I began to like these people, their simplicity and their honesty. Over time I became attached to these people.

Some older generation patients didn't call me doctor. They would call me "Cock." Typically they would greet me on the streets by shouting out loud: "Eh up cock" when I passed by them.

to be continued........