Wednesday, January 05, 2011

In which Auntie Jo admits bafflement via memes.


A number of things baffle me: the popularity of Nirvana, why people like the Doors, why Cyndi Lauper didn't make it as big as Madonna, why people eat Pei Wei, why people in traffic swerve suddenly to the right and accelerate when it's obvious that there're slower cars right in front of them....I could go on. I spend most of my day as baffled as a bathroom geyser.*

Dickishness baffles me.

Today, one of the attending physicians showed up in the unit right before I went to work.

Now, this dude is one of the more socially ept surgeons we've got. He's a popular guy: well spoken and attractive (and believe Auntie Jo when she tells you that "well-spoken" is not a backhanded compliment a la Joe Biden; it's rare in neurosurgeons) and generally well-liked. He and I had a brief conversation back before I had surgery: he'd asked what was going on, and I'd told him, and further told him (in response to the same joke I'd heard 5,000 times by then) that I was really afraid of how I'd sound after the procedure.

I was--and still am, though to a lesser degree--self-conscious about the way I sound. This week I've had a bit of a swollen throat, thanks to allergies, so I sound much more nasal and stuffy than usual, and my nasal airway is pretty closed off.

So when Dude-Bro showed up on the floor and asked if I had a cold, I didn't think much of it. The woman who was working with me (the lovely and protective Kari) said, darkly, "She doesn't have a cold; she had surgery." Doctor Dude-Bro then said, "I know....so, you got a cold, or what?"

This was me just then:


Then, as I was driving home, I had a chance to think about it. Really think about it: that Dr. Dude-Bro, in addition to throwing me under the bus a scant two hours later, went out of his way to be prickish right then, and for no reason.

This was me just after that realization hit:


I'm just gonna go eat nachos now, and maybe watch Enchanted.


*I don't know what that means, either, but it's Dorothy Sayers so it's got to be good.

14 comments:

woolywoman said...

Nachos? as in crunchy, hard, crisp food with gooey bits? What is this the oral motor Olympics? Rock on!

Dude has a tiny surgeon brain. Can't connect dots. Stick with the hairless cat attitude.

Allison said...

Fabulous cat. I want one.

SoupDragon said...

Houses in Britain before/without mains hot water would sometimes have a dinky water heater in the bathroom. You still see them sometimes at outdoorsy places. The modern ones are electric but Back In The Day they would have been gas-powered and they were called geysers.

I don't know, but have always assumed, that the 'baffled' part refers to the lagging in which we wrap our water heaters to ensure that the heating isn't a total waste of time. Ours has a thing a bit like a waterproof duvet which ties on with strings.

Brought to you by the Department of Pointless British Trivia.

Oh, and your colleague is an a*se.

shrimplate said...

The practice of surgery is a magnet for people who are innately rude, poisoned by personality disorders, or even full-blown psychopaths. Sigh...

Having said that, there are some who are just plain wonderful.

Jenn said...

I just love the pictures you find for your blog. It definitely sounds like it was the hairless cat picture day.

messymimi said...

Enjoy the nachos in life, and ignore the jerks. There's just no figuring them out.

Penny Mitchell said...

Asshat.

And the only thing wrong with the cat picture is there should be a period after the "fuck" and the "you".

Anonymous said...

Jo, I think maybe you're reading a bit more into it than he meant. He knows the sound of your voice; maybe he really did think you sounded more congested and it was his way of asking if you were okay. As a supervisor, I once (innocently) asked a black employee if she felt okay. When she said yes, I told her I'd asked because she looked a little pale. I thought nothing of it because I knew her well and she DID look a tad pale -- but the immediate wide stares of our co-workers made me think, oops... But I didn't apologize--why should I have?--because it was meant in an honest, concerned way.

RN (ret.)

Cr0w$C@lling said...

The wheels on the bus go round and round the garden like a teddy bear.

You've got a lot of company under that bus.

Molly said...

My reaction was similar to the anonymous retired RN above - maybe it was just a misunderstanding since you said yourself you were stuffy today. Maybe I give people too much credit, but I don't think that asking you if you have a cold if you sound congested is a hostile gesture, especially since you guys sound like you got along. Maybe he was just trying to be nice and show concern.

Dr. Alice said...

I've always wondered about "bathroom geyser" too, but you inspired me to look it up. Turns out it's a water heater! (per this guy's site, anyway: http://www.planetpeschel.com/index?/wimsey/notes/C19)

And surgeons... yeah... can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em.

June Clever said...

Let me preface this by saying it's late. I just got home from work. etc, etc...Um, he knows you had surgery and he knows how you sounded before and after. You said you do have a swollen throat and sounds nasaly. He asked if you have a cold. I guess Im just not really seeing how he was being a dick? Maybe something was lost (for me) in the translation.

Cara in Canada said...

There's a reason cats should have hair. That thing looks like Satan.

I'm with the posters above - I'm thinking that perhaps he noticed that your voice sounded different from the new-normal?

What did he do later to throw you under the bus?

Elyse said...

Okay, those pictures? Laugh out f'ing loud and ---- I was just this close to relegating all such pictures to the Basement Cheesy Dept of my mind, too! I thank you. They are perfect.

As to the whys and wherefores of gratuitous and uncalled for dickishness? I got nuthin'. It is still a mystery to me and I believe I have a few years on you. I -shrug- or close-eyes-slowly turn-head side-to-side-followed by deep sigh. It suffices. Usually.