Being snide is what I like about the House character...
You know, my older boy had leukemia, and was in the hospital for long periods of time...he really did not like it when some doctors and nurses were too sweet with him...he much preferred the spunky, snide, wise cracking, joking docs and nurses, who did their job of treating him,, but treated my son as a teenager who loved fun...when they were too sweet with him, he was afraid he was going to die...when they treated him as normal, and joked with him, his attitude was, Hey, I am going to be ok...he knew the reality of his situation, but preferred to be treated as just a normal kid, who was sick, not as a sick kid who was dying...
My son would have loved House for a doctor..
When I was younger, I dabbled with being a successful smartass. I was never very good at it, because, unlike House, I didn't have writers backing me up.
That is one of the other reasons I like the character. He says things I wish I had the imagination and the quickness to say.
I know alot of people hate IMUS but I do think he's hilarious in being "mean" to the cancer survivor kids who come to his Cancer Ranch and he makes them work and learn to do things on a ranch - what they seem to like so much about the experience is that they are treated like teens, and they want to feel normal again.
I always try and treat my patients the way I would want to be treated - a little "tongue in cheek" humor goes a long way!