He was having dinner when a waiter handed him a note from a stranger — it turned out to be a doctor with a quiet warning and a sweet P.S.
He received a concerned note about a mole on his upper right arm
Not every medical practitioner hands out medical advice to random people in public. However, a man who goes by u/jpdiv on Reddit received a warning note from a doctor while he was busy dining with his family. On June 27, he shared a picture of a handwritten note he received from a waiter from an apparent healthcare provider who seemed a bit too concerned about a mole on his upper right arm. The post has received over 130,000 upvotes and 6,000 comments online.
An unexpected checkup
When the waiter handed the author a note, he did not expect to receive free medical advice but was a bit shocked to see it. "Dear Sir, I am a medical doctor, and I couldn't help but notice your mole on the upper right arm. It appears worrisome to me at first glance." The stranger shared. Moreover, they recommended that the author consult a dermatologist or plastic surgeon. In the end, the doctor complimented the man's family, saying, "Your wife and baby are beautiful."
Trust issues in healthcare
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer report found that nearly half (45%) of people (between the ages of 18 and 34) favor medical advice from friends and family and have even disregarded professional advice from medical providers in the past. In fact, 38% confessed that they would rather trust social media than a trained medical professional. While the doctor's unsolicited note surprised the diner, research (by D R Miller, A C Geller, among others) suggests that people often overlook potential health warnings. Among 1001 people who were surveyed, 42% were unaware of melanoma, and only 26% could identify its specific signs. While the author did not update his readers on whether he actually consulted a dermatologist or plastic surgeon, he wrote, "I have a reasonably large congenital nevus (birthmark, mole) on my bicep. It gets regular checkups from a dermatologist and isn’t at risk of turning into melanoma."
Healthcare heroes
Meanwhile, the comment section was flooded with similar stories. Netizens shared about doctors who went out of their way to inform random people when something looked abnormal to them, and ended up saving their lives. For instance, u/LocationAcademic1731 shared, "My spouse was handed a similar note a few years back. He did have melanoma. A bored dermatologist on the plane told him he stared at the spot on his bald head the entire flight. 'Get it checked out!'" Similarly, u/BraveFunction8034 commented, "I am not a medical doctor, I am a hairdresser and over my many years of working have twice noticed concerning moles on long time clients that both turned out to be cancerous."
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