What's your nationality?

Today I had to visit an Opthomalogist at the request of my optometrist.  (I should get points for using four-plus syllable words in one sentece!)   I had an appoinment at 8:30AM and did not leave the office until 11:30.   Before I saw the opthomalogist, I filled out papers, went through two different screenings with two different assistants and sat in a room a long time waiting for my eyes to dilate. One of the screenings involved numbing my eyes and the assistant poking some stick in the middle of my eyeball. (so maybe it wasn't a stick but from my vantage point it was huge!)   It was unnerving to say the least.   I finally saw the doctor around 10:30 and she proceeded to interview me.  One of her first questions were, "what's your nationality?"   

Immediately, in my head I went through the educational process I thought I should say "American" even though I knew that's not what she wanted to hear.  Then I thought I'd mess with her and give her the appropriate language to use instead, "What is your enthnicity?"  But I just said, "Filipino American" 

She apologized for asking as if I was offended and explained that she had to ask because one's "nationalilty" may have some affect on the eye health.  So then I thought, Well, The eyes of citizens of America do see things differently than say, those who are citizens of Nicauragua, citizens of Mexico, citizens of Iraq....get my point....  But of course that's not what she really meant.

After all the probing, focusing my eyes on green dots, bright hurtful lights, and  moving targets, the diagnoses is that I have glaucoma in both eyes.   The treatment is nightly drops in my eyes and back in a month!