To find this offensive

[JingleMyBells]

As I was leaving my neurology appointment, I have epilepsy, the receptionist loudly said to her colleague "I nearly had a fit the other night when I saw the state of the house".

To me wrong in many ways. Firstly, wrong terminology secondly, demeaning to people who have SEIZURES, could be upsetting for those newly diagnosed plus just generally inappropriate.

Pleased you came back Jingle it all got a bit scary while you were gone.

Aww...OP, C'mon...you have to see the funny side of this. We all have our moments of overthinking things. This is one of those . Best thing you can do with life's unfortunate hand-outs is laugh at them. Epilepsy is shit but are you going to let it ruin you? That receptionist would probably be horrified if she was aware of her gaffe (let's give her the benefit of the doubt). Pick your poison.

We chose whether to be offended by something. Even where offence is meant we can choose not to be offended.

Argh indeed Corus

What good is it doing you, to hold onto this sense of offence, JingleMyBells? Is it making you feel good? Happy? I doubt it.

As I said earlier on, we can't control what happens, or what people do or say, but we CAN control our response - and when that response is harming us (and your response is harming only you), we should change that esponse.

Take a deep breath, decide not to let what was said cause you further upset, and then move on.

I am not saying you shouldn't do something about this, if you genuinely believe there is benefit to be gained from challenging what was said, but if you are going to take action, you will do so far more effectively if you are acting with a cool head, rather than from offence and hurt feelings.

I think it was a very common usage of the word, clearly not intended to cause offence - and we are all human, even receptionists and healthcare workers - and it is not reasonable to expect them to censor every single word they say, for fear of causing someone who might overhear, some offence. But, as others have said, it is not a tactful word to use in that context, and a quiet word to point this out to the department, might be appropriate - but only with the aim of asking the staff to avoid using the word 'fit' in casual conversation, not with the aim of getting someone disciplined.

I don't think you are any of those things OP but YABU

I do think this woman used an unfortunate turn of phrase given the situation, it was a gaffe, but it is a bit OTT to be offended by it. We all have a choice when to take offence and it probably makes more sense to save your ire for bigger battles because Lord knows there are enough of them. You'll burn yourself out if you allow things like this to wind you up this much

Nice one.

YAB very U.

The receptionist said 'I nearly had an angry outburst the other night when I saw the state of the house'

The word fit is a homograph. I think you are getting upset about something that doesn't merit it.

OP I read one of your threads not so long ago where you were waiting to hear back from a job interview.

You said "The suspense is killing me"

Now given how many millions of people read MN, would you consider your words offensive to people who have a terminal illness?

Or can you just see that it was a fairly common phrase you used?

In the circumstances you describe - yanbu.

In almost all others I'd say ywbu.

People say all sorts "I was so angry I nearly had a heart attack/stroke" being common. I'd strongly judge a nurse/doctor who used in it casual speech on a ward full of people had suffered either of the above.

There are things I say in company that I would never say at work. It's not even as though I had to think about it that much, to me there are clear lines between common parlance and professional behaviour.

We need a list of things receptionists MUST NOT SAY in the..

Occupational therapy department
I bought that new handbag but it cost an arm and a leg

Gastroenterology department
I didn't have the guts to go on the roller-coaster

Ophthalmology department
I don't see eye to eye with him but his wife is a sight for sore eyes

X-Ray department
my sister-in-law is so fake, I can see right through her

Neurology department
my kids were getting right on my nerves

Accident and Emergency department
he is so dishy I am falling head over heels for him

Maybe we could have reception-bots? Less risk of potentially-offensive casual chatter that way.

Physiotherapy department
"Why are they being so inflexible about it?"

Dentist office
"I'm sick to the back teeth of this weather"

Askance at this thread.

"I nearly had a fit at the state of the house" when said outside a clinical context - at the supermarket for instance, just not a problem, just a turn of phrase. But in the neurology department? - insensitive.

Frankly, even those who emphatically disagree with the OP - why ridicule / belittle. Disagree by all means but the insults and sarcasm? How repulsive - have you had an empathy bypass?

I agree with hmc, there a lot of unkind posts on this thread.

The cardiology department
He was ever so handsome, a real heart breaker

The gastroenterology department
We had a terrible year, it was a real Annus horribilis ( )

If she had said "I had a seizure" or "I almost had an eppie" - then yes, that would be inappropriate/offensive.

Saying "I had a fit (of anger/jealousy/laughter)" - can't really see the offence. Especially as she didn't even say it to a patient.

The idea that you mustn't use any common phrases involving the words "see" or "hear" in the presence of people with sight or hearing issues is pretty much the most ridiculous thing on this thread though!

OP you are entitled to choose to feel offended. That is your choice but it is not the fault of the person who said the word "fit".

Well said 50.

I am a big fan of 'political correctness' (for the want of a better phrase) but you shouldn't have to account for other people's lack of knowledge in your choice of words.

The receptionists should not have to take into consideration that the op did not not know that the word fit is a homograph. In this context, fit was meant to imply a sudden, short, feeling of anger, utterly unrelated to an epileptic fit.

It reminds me (in a less extreme way) of the anxiety over the word niggardly in the US. People have ended up getting themselves into trouble by using the word (meaning stingy or mean) as the listener believed it was a term derived from 'nigger.' The two are utterly unrelated and recorded use of niggardly actually pre-dates that of nigger. But should we ask people to censor their conversation to appease the ignorant and those labouring under a misapprehension or because one word sounds a bit like another (totally unrelated) word.

I'm a big fan of political correctness too. (PC gone mad is such a tired, overworked expression) but I don't see an issue here.

Someone mentioned feeling bad about saying "spastic colon" - now that's a bit silly. Have they really stopped using that as a diagnosis? It's entirely accurate, the colon has irregular spasms. If one suffers from it one can clearly feel the spasms.