As soon as COVID-19 started spreading and posing a real threat to humanity, much of the world reacted in more or less constructive ways and managed to bring order where there would have otherwise been chaos. That is, in places where this was actually done. Needless to say, the pandemic has brought in some amount of chaos that is to some extent no longer controllable at this point.
I am, of course, referring to the conspiracy theories, fake news, and their perpetuation by certain high-level authorities. However, pushing away the tide of ignorance are the people of the internet, with medical doctor David Young posting a satirical post on a day in the life of a medical hospital doctor on Facebook. And more people than just his circle of friends read the post…
Bored Panda reached out to David Young for an interview. Young is a hospital medicine doctor based in Downtown Chicago with medical training in Cincinnati and Medical School at Baylor, Houston, Texas.
With all of the conspiracy theories floating about, it is normal for doctors to facepalm and rant about it
Image credits: Army Medicine (not the actual photo)
On May 10, Young posted on Facebook detailing the things that he as a medical professional does and has to face at his job in the hospital, without sparing any of the juicy satirical conspiratorial details and nuances, and all neatly timestamped for good comedy measure.
Besides a lot of people asking him about it, there were also other reasons that pushed him to share the post: "[I saw] something about 5G or Bill Gates unironically posted on another wall or another Instagram story for the umpteenth time. And then group chats sending Plandemic links as a sort of "See?!!" post. And then, of course, just over the years hearing this or that conspiracy theory about hospitals or doctors. I just thought it was getting silly, and so I made a silly post about it, not at all expecting it to spread like it did.
Now, if you need a concise rundown of all of the conspiracy theories, fake news, and all-around ridiculousness, Young’s post covers the basics to keep you in the loop. 5G, Bill Gates, Wuhan’s Virological Laboratory, corruption in the medical and pharmaceutical industry, the “power” of essential oils, anti-vax patients, the post has it all and is provided in a tongue-in-cheek tone.
This doctor took a bit of a different approach with a hilariously satirical view of a day in the life of a doctor
Needless to say, Young was left surprise with how viral it got: "As you can see by my 200 Instagram followers, absent Twitter handle, and scant Facebook wall, I'm not much of a social media person at all. It was honestly really cool to see it go viral, since it was a new experience for me, and I was also happy to see that it made people laugh and seemed to have a generally positive response. There were a couple loons that sent me some private messages about how it upset them, but the reassuring thing was to see how many people appreciated it, recognized it as satire, and just enjoyed it."
He continued: "I think what I appreciated most was seeing replies by people saying things like "I use essential oils and I love this" or "I have crystals on my night stand and this is hilarious". The ability to laugh at yourself is so key to introspection and self-reflection, so seeing the 95% positive response was really encouraging."
David Young’s post soon went viral, getting over 77,000 reactions with almost the same amount of shares and 21,000 comments. People found it a fun and hilarious read, with medical experts seconding the satire and many others also pointing out all of the other ludicrous theories that Young left out, namely injecting disinfectant and lunar crystals.
One timestamp at a time, he details all of the "truths" that are anything but helpful during the pandemic
There were a couple of people who didn't really understand the satire and humor behind this post, taking Young's words for truth. So, we asked him if he was at all worried that this can go the other way. He had this to say:
"Hopefully, I piled it on thick enough that no one thinks I'm being serious, but I suppose anything is possible. A rare few were definitely lacking in reading comprehension as some people replied to me thinking I was a patient on the ward and I even got one person who messaged me thinking I was a girl. Largely, though, I think everyone got the joke."
These include 5G's influence, Bill Gates, corruption in the industry and the “power” of essential oils
Image credits: David Young
Also, imagine all of this happening with Young sporting cowboy boots, as he said so himself because he's a hardcore Texan: "My claim to fame is that I wear cowboy boots (nice ones!) on rounds, which is normal Texas doctor attire, but I guess it's a little unorthodox up here, so I've embraced it."
Some commenters suggested that if Young ever tires of medicine, he has a great future in comedy, all thanks to this post. So, our question was obvious—are there plans to continue doing these hilarious Facebook rants?
"Haha, I think I'm just a one-hit wonder. I definitely sympathize now with anyone who has to generate content or views or likes for a living, because it seems like it's more stressful than my job! But, if something else ridiculous happens to get the creative juices flowing, I won't avoid posting, but I'd never expect it to take off like this one (I'm normally not that witty)."
Young has also requested to clarify here that these are his opinions and his alone, and not those of his workplace. Knowing that some, even if it is a few, missed the sarcasm and satire completely here, it is a must to clarify this point.
Here's how the internet reacted to this satirical bit of literature
