On Higher Authority

My sister-in-law was married to a prominent surgeon who was a member of operating teams at both St. Francis Hospital and Christ Hospital in the Chicago area. He would operate in the mornings, then field calls about his patients in the evenings.

Once when I was visiting his home, he was on the phone talking to a resident at Christ Hospital when the other phone rang. My sister-in-law answered, then whispered to her husband, "It's St. Francis calling."

He wispered back, "Tell St. Francis I'll have to call back. I'm talking to Christ."

-- Avrum Hyman, quoted by Enid Henry and Ron Alexander in New York Times