Episode four: Jon the Good Doctor
The first sleepover went better than I expected. Despite the awkwardness and difference in opinions, Scaachi, Alan and Charlie ended up connecting on a human-to-human level. But enough about them, I've got another sleepover to host and three new strangers to meet!
Let me introduce you to Dr. Jon Fiddler. He's a family doctor who works on the northern Ontario reserve of Pikangikum First Nation. He's also a fashion designer, elaborate party-thrower and ex-pie vendor.
Jon describes himself as "a wild child queer kid at heart." He's very different from his traditional Dad who was the Chief of the Cree community where Jon was born. They're from distinctly different generations and have different ideas about on-reserve issues.
His incredibly diverse interests, and adventurous spirit is what made me want to invite him to sleepover.
In true 'Jon Fiddler' style, he arrives at the hotel after pulling an all-nighter, dancing his buns off in the back of a U-Haul in adult diapers, for his 37th birthday. (Listen to the episode and you'll understand). Jon's been up for so long, the line between dream and reality is beginning to blur. Now he's about to spend the next 24 hours with us in room 3-168!
Jon has also brought his stethoscope, the most basic and trusted tool of a physician. It is a symbol of his ever growing problem. Throughout the night, he describes the dire conditions in Pikangikum. The rundown nursing station, lack of resources, and bureaucracy impede his ability to treat those in desperate need of care. It's come to a point where Jon's beginning to question his role on the reserve and whether or not he wants to work there.
Jon is faced with a very difficult decision, that could potentially shape the future of a whole community. Can acclaimed author Sheila Heti, and teenage basketball player Josis Thomas, help make up his mind while he's completely under slept and at his wit's end?
Sook-Yin Lee
PHOTOS FROM THE EPISODE
