The orthopedic PowerPoint code.

After the total bummer that was yesterday's blog, I wondered how I might keep people tuned in.

Then I thought of this weird thing that happens among orthopedic surgeons. Whenever they present a PowerPoint lecture to other orthopedic surgeons with graphs and x-rays and things like that, they usually include a ridiculous picture with a strange caption that has nothing to do with their lecture, just to break people up and keep them interested. They're a jokey bunch and they like to have fun -- picture suburban tiki parties in the 50s, and you're close. The joke slides look something like this:



There could be a few different captions for this one. If it's your average orthopedic surgeon, the caption might read "After baking cookies on his first day of retirement, Dr. Smig rewards himself with a cigarette on the porch." If it's a politically inclined orthopedic surgeon, the caption would say something like "Dr. Smig demonstrates our current foreign policy." Those guys give it their best shot.

Anyway, it felt weird to write something unrelentingly serious yesterday, like I wasn't following the orthopedic PowerPoint code by slipping in a wacky photo somewhere along the way.