Absent

(My lunch-time discussion with Vivian continued.)

"My dear, I suppose feedback meeting of this kind is just a formality, isn't it? What keeps you so late?" I asked.

"Not this time. The consultant surgeon from Portland Street Hospital was obviously irritated and gave a lot of comments. Em... I think he has good reasons. You know, many students assigned to his hospital did not turn up. On several occasions, only one or two students, out of ten in the group, attended a bedside tutorial!"

"Alas... All I could say is my friends VM and JW would be very happy to hear this news - the problem is not restricted to our own students!"

My wife gave me a cold stare and went on, "It's not only a problem of attendance but, more importantly, attitude. You know, the student representative was not at all apologetic. He kept putting up excuses, one after another, to justify their poor attendance rate. In fact, towards the end of the meeting, the student representative and the consultant were literally discussing with their fists!"