The Blind, Deaf, and Dumb

Healing is an adventure--one that I really do love. There are always challenges, and no situation is ever the same. And healers generally know when they've messed up. It happens. We don't like it. Our whole purpose is to keep people alive, and we hate to see them die.

But there are times when I just want to wring someone's neck.

First, the blind. These are the people who do not notice they are out of range or who think that as long as they are in range of one healer, they are well and good. What they don't know is that their chances of survival increase dramatically when they are in range of more than one healer--preferably as many as the encounter will support, given space requirements. Perhaps the healer close to them is assigned a particular task. Or some encounters may include some sort of spike damage which may be difficult for a particular healing class to heal. Or some encounters will take a person "out of action" for a while, requiring the other healers to cover for him until 7 seconds or so later, he can be back in the game. When the blind die, they counter arguments that they were out of range with, "But one healer was right next to me!"

Second, the deaf. These are the people who refuse to listen to the raid leader and so end up dying to Cleave . . . or running straight into the fire . . . or not assisting when someone runs by them, kiting something which needs to be killed . . . all because they were listening to their music or their TV or whatever. Sorry, folks, we can't help you stay alive in spite of yourselves.

Third, the dumb. And, no, in this case, I do not mean those who have no voice. Sometimes the dumb speak very loudly, indeed, but when they speak, they prove they know nothing about healing and grate on the nerves of the healers within the sound of their words. These are the ones who claim that the healers were sitting around waiting for cabana boys to bring them drinks or something, because so-and-so was within range of all the healers within 2 seconds and could have easily been healed. First, 2 seconds can be a lifetime when it comes to healing, especially in certain encounters with built-in timers on debuffs. Second, when the healers, themselves, who know this person needs healing, have been frantically trying to find the person and been unable to do so, they are in a better position to say how long this person was within range. It's worse then the dumb actually argue directly with the healers who are trying to correct them not only on specific facts but on general healing principles in an encounter.

Ah, well. The blind, deaf, and dumb will always be with us, and they are a part of the hazards of choosing to be a healer. They will continue to remain blind, deaf, and dumb, no matter what I can do, so it's not worth getting all upset.