Quotes, sayings, advice....whatever you call them, we all know someone who is always spouting one off. That someone in my life is a surgeon I have worked with for over 10 years now. Most of his are work related, and have gained him recognition both in front of his face and behind his back...
"Drop 250 in the tank" is actually an order to infuse 250 milliliters of Albumin into a patient intravenously. I don't know one nurse that works with him who doesn't know how to transcribe that sentence. It's always funny to see the new nurses' faces when he says that though...
He also has more intuitive sayings:
"Sometimes, when you are building something, you have to stop layering each individual brick and take a moment to step back and actually look at the wall. Otherwise, you may be building it in the wrong direction, or be mixing in the wrong types of decorative bricks at the wrong places".
He is also one of those people like my husband that just knows random crap. My husband may not have a formal college degree, but I'd put him up against the best at Trivial Pursuit or Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader.
This particular doctor is the same way. He asked me one day, "Who's the bell cow around here?".
I paused and gave him a tenuous look. "Do you realize you just asked who the cow was in a unit full of women?"
"You know." he replied with some exasperation at my obvious dimwitted response. "A bell cow."
I continued to look at him blankly.
He went on to explain that cows have a natural sense of following a leader. Once the farmer figures out who the other cows are following, they put an actual cow bell on her. Then, all he has to do is go out and lead one cow into the barn for milking, and as the cow walks and the bell jangles, all the other cows follow right along for their milking or evening meal.
"Why do you know this crap?!" I asked. He had the nerve to look at me like I was the odd one of the two of us. His partner happened to be walking by just then and I asked him if he knew what a bell cow was.
Nothing like getting a blank stare from a cardiothoracic surgeon.
"See?! I swear you talk in a different language sometimes!"
He just laughed and shook his head.
His birthday is this week, and it's a big one. We had food and a cake that looked like an Ohio State football field. I got him a card with the Harry Truman quote on it so that he could add it to his arsenal of "Millerisms".
And we got him a cow bell. With a bow. I was going to put a collar on it, but decided that would be a little creepy. Instead, I wrote a little note on it so that he could hopefully sit it on his desk and be reminded that others are looking up to him as a leader and to be ever-conscious of where he walks and what he says, as others look up to him and will follow his lead.
That's a lot of pressure for a cow.
Tonight's picture celebrates all of the bell cows out there- both with actual udders and without. Do you have a quote or saying that people will remember you for?
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