FREE ESSAY ON PRO'S AND CON'S OF JAMES HARRIOTS` JOB

PRO'S AND CON'S OF JAMES HARRIOTS` JOB

Pro's and Con's of
James Harriots' Job as a vet
Most people working in the medical field treat human patients, but one common medical
field is 
Complaining about his first experience in the country, James Herriot starts out his book
saying, They didn't say anything about this in the books, I thought, as the snow blew in
through the gaping doorway and settled on my back. No there wasn't a word in the books
about searching for your ropes and instruments in the shadows; about trying to keep clean
in a half bucket of tepid water; about the cobbles digging into your chest. Nor about the
slow numbing of the arms, the creeping paralysis of the muscles as the fingers tried to
work against the cows powerful explosive efforts. He clearly doesn't show any signs of
enjoying his job, yet. Later on, on his way to Mr. Farnon, he remembers some of the
horror stories told to him from experienced veterans, which had visited his college. One
vet said, Never a night off or a half a day. He made me wash the car, dig the garden, mow
the lawn, do the family shopping. But when he told me to sweep the chimney I left. And
another remembers,  First job I had to do was pass the stomach tube on a horse. Got it
into the trachea instead of the esophagus. Couple of quick pumps and down went the horse
with a hell of a crash-dead as a hammer. That's when I started these gray hairs. By that
time James was doubting whether or not being a vet was the best profession he could have
chosen. 
Deciding to stay a vet in the same city he quickly realized the problem of having to
adapt to his new environment. One of the first he encountered was the ability to
communicate properly with his customers. James, on the first day of work, while Mr.
Farnon was out, had to deal with a customer on his own. Harriot had trouble understanding
him due to the use of terms, to describe animal body parts, sickness, and diseases, which
were made-up by farmers in that area. After the customer left (Harriot) returned
thoughtfully to the sitting-room. It was disconcerting but I had listened to my first
case history without understanding a word of it. There are many unexpected obstacles and
difficulties which are going to come in his life time job as a vet. One of which he hates
dearly is the fact that his job requires him to be able to be wide-awake and focused at
any time, 24 hours a day 7 days a week. He got a call one night at 3:15A.M. to come help
a farmer with his mane having trouble giving birth. He remembers,  My stomach contracted
to a tight ball. This was a little bit too much; once out of bed in the middle of the
night was bad enough, but twice was unfair, in fact it was sheer cruelty. I had had a
hard day and had been glad to crawl between the sheets at midnight. I had been hauled out
once at one o'clock to a damned awkward calving and hadn't got back till nearly three.
What time is it now? Three fifteen. Good god, I had only had a few minutes' sleep. And a
foaling! Twice as difficult as a calving as a rule. What a life! What a bloody awful
life!
A gentleman, back in the school days, told him  if you ever become a veterinary surgeon
you will have a life of endless interest and variety. James thought that old chap was
certainly wasn't kidding, variety. That was it variety.
Variety is something you rarely get residing in the city. Every day you see the same
buildings, go to the same office, meet the same people, and pretty much do the same work
all year long. But as vet it's the extreme opposite. After a hard days work, Harriot
wonders,  but then I might have been in an office with the window tight shut against the
petrol fumes and the traffic noise, the desk light shining on the columns of figures, my
bowler hat hanging on the wall. Living in the city doesn't come without its rewards. Even
though you are a slave to the cities seemingly endless redundant, same way of life; it
doesn't come without its rewards. 
Having finished helping a lamb with its birth a little past midnight James tries  to keep
out the black thoughts; about those people I knew who were still in bed and would only
leave it when their alarm clocks rang; and they would read their papers over breakfast
and drive out in their cosy banks or insurance offices. Maybe I should have been a
doctor-they treated their patients in nice, warm bedrooms.