Reactionary

The freezing winds at first light brought back memories of Chicago. It figures today would be the day I left my scarf home. It set the tone for the day.

Remember how happy I was someone had volunteered to take my shift on Christmas Eve? It may be for naught. The manager has informed me she wishes she could give me Friday, 22 December off but needs someone to take the shift. Can I ask the part-time people and see if someone wants it? She really wants me to be off, but we’re busy and short-staffed… So it’s anything but a done deal. I’m left clutching a $900 ticket hoping someone will want to work more or take the shift out of the kindness of their hearts. There isn’t much kindness in these hearts and I understand. They’re as exhausted and overworked as I am. Yet, I’m clutching a non-refundable ticket I can’t afford and hoping, hoping, hoping. There’s nothing more I can do and no one to blame.

And then today, we had agreed to share the workload and I agreed to scrub the first case if my partner would scrub the second one. First case came and went. I set up the room, filled out paperwork, got the kid and saw the scrub’s stuff was open but not set up. Oh, well, his issue right? Wrong. Inept Old Nurse comes in and says he has to go have his evaluation done. Inept Old Nurse doesn’t scrub anymore. So it was me suddenly at the end of the diving platform and there’s no water in the pool. I’ve said I can set up in five minutes. That’s about as much time I had to get a big back table for a laparascopic case ready. I did it because I’m that good. But I did all the work in that room. Inept Old Nurse, instead of getting me things I needed because he hadn’t opened them, runs around fussing about cleaning the room instead of pulling what I’ve asked her to. It’s a nice doc so screw him, right? My partner comes back and scrubs me out. I rip the gown off and dump all the things on the table I’d been asking for that Inept Old Nurse hadn’t bothered to get. Here, Nice General Fellow, here’s a step so you can actually see what you’re doing. I know you asked for it 15 minutes ago but I couldn’t get it then. Here it is now.

That’s the Land of High and Dry.

P.S. The Big Man gave me a Christmas card today with a gift (small Christmas bonus). Clearly, it was from a list his secretaries put together for him, but he knows who I am. If they had all signed it, it would have meant more, but I won’t be hard to please. Thanks, Big Man.

December 8th, 2006 | Category: Life |  Print |  Send it | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL