We've all encountered that person who hates his/her day job and makes sure everyone knows it. The resentment he/she totes around is infectious and exhausting
People who like their work, in contrast, are a pleasure to be with even if I don't completely get their passion for mass transportation, retail operations, fifth-grade math or whatever it is that turns them on.
And then there's Marlene, a nurse at a local hospital's day-surgery unit.
I met Marlene last week when being prepped for my second cochlear implant. She cloaked efficiency in a friendly, easy manner and it was easy to see she enjoyed patient care.
After Marlene slipped non-skid socks on my feet and wrapped a blanket around me, she talked to me and Hubs about what would happen over the next three or four hours. As she spoke, she stroked my blanket-clad legs.
Was she conscious of stroking my legs or was the action instinctive? Had she picked up on the nervousness I thought I'd hid? Or did she make it a point to soothe every patient before surgery?
I didn't need answers to those questions to know I was in the presence of someone who wasn't just good at her work--she'd been called to it.
"I will be with you in the recovery room," she said.
Hubs and I shared a look, and I knew Marlene's statement reassured him as much as it did me.
Our health-care system has plenty of problems, but, thank God, it also has the Marlenes.
Have you encountered someone with a calling for his/her work? Please give this person a shout-out in comments.
