Oriented? x3 or x4?

   I must apologize to any individuals who may have unintentionally served as a source for the following. But I'm still laughing, and my mid-night imagination takes me here:

   Orientation x3:    It is true that prior to most medical procedures, the patient is assessed for mental orientation: 1) Who are you, what is your name?  2) Where are you? 3) What day is it? And if Orientation x4, Why are you here?  (I will remark that after my latest surgical procedure, the pre-assessment, according to entries in my Patient Portal, found me "mentally competent". Based on what I don't know. Maybe it's an age-related thing.

     Of course for almost any interaction you have with anyone, anywhere, you are identified, ad nauseum, by being asked your date  of birth. 

   Beyond that, it seems the intake assistant, prior to your meeting with the esteemed doctor, paves the way via an abbreviated assessment of your orientation to your present appointment. "Why are you here?" they often ask, as they check off the boxes on their questionnaire.  Expected replies might be, Because I'm sick, It's my regularly scheduled appointment, The doctor told me to be here, etc., All of which would neatly conform to the check-off box.

  Only  rarely, I would expect, would the patient's reply take the Existentialist  view. "I don't know why I'm here. Why are any of us here?  What is the meaning of life? 

  Alas, Patient's  answer is outside the box.