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BLOG: Ginger vs. Mary Ann
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Ginger or Mary Ann? Come on. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. If you’re of a certain age, you’ve engaged in hours of heated discussions about which one you would choose if you were marooned on Gilligan’s Island. And don’t pull the “I’m a woman” card to try to get out of answering this; some of the most spirited conversations I ever had on this topic were with woman. Everyone who ever watched Gilligan’s Island has not only taken a position on this near existential question, but has also spent hours preparing their defense.
OK. All right. Maybe you are really too young to have ever seen Gilligan’s Island, and no amount of prompting from your parents could convince you to binge watch it on Netflix. You did watch Friends, though. Which is it? Chandler or Ross? (Crossed you up there, didn’t I?) Man or woman, if you watched Friends, you’ve taken a position on this most important topic, and you’ve defended that position over endless cups of overpriced coffee.
You know you have.
What does this have to do with dry eye disease? We are in the early stages of massive direct-to-consumer campaigns that cross literally every branch of media talking about dry eye. This is actually a really big deal for you if you treat DED in your practice. Our industry partners are doing a fantastic job raising awareness of this disease. Whether one or the other is doing a better job at promoting their particular product is beyond my ken. Either way, your job will be easier because many more of your patients will be coming to the office ready to hear that their symptoms are caused by DED. Even more so, they will be prepared for you to discuss a prescription medication for their problem, and this will likely mean an easier discussion for you.
So whom do you choose? Ginger or Mary Ann? Well, it’s a trick question, of course. I don’t really remember how it all turned out for Chandler, Ross, Rachel and all on Friends, but I do remember an embarrassing amount of stuff about Gilligan’s Island. In our debates about Ginger and Mary Ann, everyone always ended up agreeing that the Professor had it right all along.
He chose both.