Dear Farmer Pensler,
Shear as many sheep as you can. Just do it quietly. Because when the shearing turns to butchering, and the butchering turns to lawyering, it makes a lot of noise. When one sheep sends up a bleating cry of distress, the flock scatters. From then on those sheep are shy. From then on those sheep are harder to catch, harder for you, and harder for the farmer next door. From then on, it does not matter how many positive reviews are posted, or any other means of enticement, authentic or otherwise. Sheep may be dumb, but they frighten easily, and they never forget. They will never completely trust you again, or what you represent. The sound produced when doctors sue patients is a klaxon to the public ear. Played in sharp contrast to the physician's traditional image of beneficent strength and intelligent reserve, it is the loudest thing in the world. It thunders over anything that might be heard to the contrary. You have made a bad situation worse, and like your botched surgeries, the harm cannot be undone. Ours is a profession of the highest calling. As such, certain things should be beneath us. Throughout its history, every now and then, doctors like you have pulled it into the gutter. This will be resisted. Shame on you. For the time being, shame on us all.
The Farmers Next Door
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