Humor has a place in all our lives, and this piece is funny on multiple levels. This piece (and the publication of it) pokes a bit of fun at the profession and I find that endearing and humanizing. (Doctors more interested in being viewed as Godheads may take umbrage for that reason alone.)

It was also a brilliant piece of marketing. How many people (like me) are hearing of your association and it's journal for the first time, and perhaps investigating your website? How many newspapers and magazines besides the one that I saw, are providing free advertising for you?

Of course, the danger of using humor is that some people (like eLetter correspondant, Patricia —who apparently needs to see a proctologist for removal of some foreign object) will either not 'get it' or see some dark side to the 'research' and it's publication.

At another level, your piece shines an examination room's light on something that storytellers of all forms have been examining forever: the makings of interesting and compelling characters. Few would be considered 'normal' though some are used to provide some sort of 'baseline' by which to view the others. This is seen in all of the arts and all forms of media, new and old.

I applaud the piece and it's publication. I'm looking forward with great anticipation to your April 1st issue!