We took our fellow to lunch today as a treat for his last day of fellowship. It should have been much, much more than lunch at Bertuccis considering how hard he's worked, but he's busy, we're busy, the whole world is busy.We took the back way out of the hospital, past the loading dock into the construction zone which is, well, one serious construction zone. A whole bunch of shiny glass buildings, all skyscraper -lite, have gone up around our hospital, housing labs for the other hospitals that are part of our beloved medical industrial complex. We don't have many windows in our pathology lab, so that walking out into the hot sun, with the slightly humid air all around us, was almost shocking. The world exists! A huge fence surrounds mounds of dug up dirt with all kinds of cranes and moving machines embedded in it. The fence-surrounded-dug-up-dirt is completely ringed by lab, medical school and hospital buildings. We ducked into a covered walkway to take us to the other side of all the construction and to the restaurant. Walking along the planks and shielded from the sun, we looked straight into moving, collecting together and then breaking up again, aggregates of construction workers, more than I have ever seen at one site, some sitting, some standing, some eating or drinking, in jeans and work boots, t-shirted and bare-headed for a lunch break, I suppose. They stared at us and we stared back; I was bleary eyed from the microscope and thinking of a case that I need to work on, and had to shield my eyes from the sun when our group emerged from the walkway.
When the fellow left today, I shook his hand and wished him well, and he said to me, "make sure to get away. Make sure to get a way for the weekend and take a break." And off he went. And next week, the new fellows come.
Yes, get away. Make sure to get away - to New York, f.ex.
Lots of humid air, if that's what you like to "feel real". And a few things to see...
Posted by: Tatyana | June 28, 2006 at 11:25 PM
I was gonna go to NY this weekend, but had to take call. S'okay, the parents are visiting and I have plans to hang out with some friends. Chillin and relaxin, I'm hopin......
Posted by: MD | June 30, 2006 at 06:09 PM
Make sure you'll let me know when you do come.
Posted by: Tatyana | July 01, 2006 at 11:56 AM