Uncertain and cautious, Steven crossed the threshold into the examination room. The room wasn't that big at all. To the left was the examination table, next to it a few devices and a shelf with some things. "Hello," greeted the doctor sitting at a desk to the right of the entrance with her back to a window. "Please have a seat." Steven nodded shyly and sat down on the chair in front of the desk. Now he was sitting across from the doctor. She seemed a little older, but experienced. Blinds blocked the outside view behind her. Papers lay in front of her, a pen in her right hand. She wore her hair tied and wore a white coat. A stethoscope was clamped to her neck, which took away Steven's last hope of not having to undress in this room. "How is the general emotional state?" asked the doctor. What does she want to know, Steven thought to himself and hesitated for a moment before answering. "Very good. A little excited.” The doctor nodded and began to ask questions. The usual. Previous illnesses, illnesses in the family, abnormalities and so on. Steven calmed down a bit, although he felt like he was being interrogated by his employer. "Okay, let's start the exam now. Please free yourself up to your underpants.” It took Steven a moment to realize what was coming next. Here we go, he thought and saw the doctor get up and walk past him to the examination table. Then he got up and looked around for a moment. Where should I put my things, he thought to himself. He paused for a moment, hoping the doctor would give him some advice. There was no dressing room in the room and no counter space. Then he decided to undress right where he was standing. He put his clothes on the chair he was sitting on. First the jacket, then his t-shirt and then, after he had taken off his shoes, his pants too. There he stood, helpless, waiting and like a little boy standing in his underpants. The doctor looked at him. She now held a blood pressure cuff in her hand. "Please take a seat on the exam table." Steven followed her instructions, sat down and watched as the doctor wrapped the cuff around his arm. A strange feeling, thought Steven, who remembered the youth check-up at the pediatrician. At that time he was sitting on the table in the same way, dressed only in his underpants. He was very embarrassed at the time. Today the feeling was similar. Not knowing what was coming next, he sat at the mercy of the doctor on her exam table. Control and certainty failed him. He felt embarrassed as the doctor put her stethoscope in her ear and pressed the diaphragm to his forearm. Like back then - during the examination at the pediatrician. The doctor began to inflate the blood pressure cuff. Steven had long forgotten the feeling. The more she pumped, the tighter the cuff became. He felt his excited heart pounding blood through the veins beneath the cuff. The doctor watched the display above the pump bulb with concentration, then released the air with an audible hiss. "OK. That looks good. Somewhat elevated, but it's definitely just the white coat syndrome.” The what? Steven was surprised by the term, which he had never heard before. Then the doctor pulled the cuff off his arm. It felt like a liberation. Steven ran his hand over the spot and awaited new instructions. After putting the blood pressure cuff on the shelf, she came back to Steven and began to feel his neck. With her thumbs she pressed lightly in some places. Then she took a wooden stick and asked him to open his mouth. She peeked in, took the spatula out of his mouth, and went to the desk to jot down the initial results. Then she came back and stuck the stethoscope back into her ears.