Pavlov's beep
I used to work for a medical laser company based out of Stuart, FL. We would bring our lasers to the ORs of local hospitals and assist the surgeons during operations. I live in Melbourne, but the area I covered stretched from Cape Canaveral to Ft. Lauderdale. I drove at least as far as Port St. Lucie three times a week.
We used 4 types of lasers, each for different applications: YAG, Holmium, KTP, and CO2. Oftentimes at the end of a work day, I’d have to drive down to Stuart to swap whatever lasers I had in my van for the ones I’d need the next day. Taking into consideration the volatility of operating schedules, you can imagine surgeries were constantly being cancelled, rescheduled, and postponed. There were many times that I would drive the 1.5 hours down south, switch out lasers, and then drive back home, only to have the schedules change. I’d have to turn around and drive back down to get a different laser…sometimes the one that I had just dropped off. Other days I’d get home from a long day, only to be called and told I need to be in Okeechobee or Port St. John within a couple of hours for an “emergency” surgery.
During the 11 months that I worked for the laser company, I was on-call every night, every weekend, and every holiday. I remember one Saturday morning in particular, my friends and I had planned an off-shore fishing trip, but I got a call early Saturday morning that I needed to be in surgery at 8am. My friends left for the boat drop without me. I waited at the hospital for almost an hour before the surgery was cancelled. I jumped in my van and started speeding toward the drop to see if I could catch my friends before they shoved off. I was still in my scrubs, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to fish. I called all of their cell phones, but I had missed them by about 20 minutes. Serenity now.
Through it all…the long drives and short weekends, the on-call nights and the paranoia that I’d missed a call for a surgery…through all of it, the medium through which I was tethered to this life of unpredictability was my stupid Nextel phone and its insidious push-to-talk *beep beep.* I would cringe every time I heard that sound, because I just that it meant that I was about to drive a few more hours, or I’d be missing a fun weekend get-together. I began to really loathe that sound and my heart would skip a beat every time I’d hear it.
It’s been nearly 3.5 years since I’ve worked for that company or had a Nextel phone, but I heard the beeping the other day, and for a fleeting moment all those old feelings of anxiety and annoyance whelmed within me. I knew it wasn’t my phone and I wasn’t going to have to drive to Miami, but I guess I still have some pretty strong emotions tied to that sound that have yet to subside.
If only I could get the neighbor kid to mow my lawn when he hears a phone ring…
We used 4 types of lasers, each for different applications: YAG, Holmium, KTP, and CO2. Oftentimes at the end of a work day, I’d have to drive down to Stuart to swap whatever lasers I had in my van for the ones I’d need the next day. Taking into consideration the volatility of operating schedules, you can imagine surgeries were constantly being cancelled, rescheduled, and postponed. There were many times that I would drive the 1.5 hours down south, switch out lasers, and then drive back home, only to have the schedules change. I’d have to turn around and drive back down to get a different laser…sometimes the one that I had just dropped off. Other days I’d get home from a long day, only to be called and told I need to be in Okeechobee or Port St. John within a couple of hours for an “emergency” surgery.
During the 11 months that I worked for the laser company, I was on-call every night, every weekend, and every holiday. I remember one Saturday morning in particular, my friends and I had planned an off-shore fishing trip, but I got a call early Saturday morning that I needed to be in surgery at 8am. My friends left for the boat drop without me. I waited at the hospital for almost an hour before the surgery was cancelled. I jumped in my van and started speeding toward the drop to see if I could catch my friends before they shoved off. I was still in my scrubs, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to fish. I called all of their cell phones, but I had missed them by about 20 minutes. Serenity now.
Through it all…the long drives and short weekends, the on-call nights and the paranoia that I’d missed a call for a surgery…through all of it, the medium through which I was tethered to this life of unpredictability was my stupid Nextel phone and its insidious push-to-talk *beep beep.* I would cringe every time I heard that sound, because I just that it meant that I was about to drive a few more hours, or I’d be missing a fun weekend get-together. I began to really loathe that sound and my heart would skip a beat every time I’d hear it.
It’s been nearly 3.5 years since I’ve worked for that company or had a Nextel phone, but I heard the beeping the other day, and for a fleeting moment all those old feelings of anxiety and annoyance whelmed within me. I knew it wasn’t my phone and I wasn’t going to have to drive to Miami, but I guess I still have some pretty strong emotions tied to that sound that have yet to subside.
If only I could get the neighbor kid to mow my lawn when he hears a phone ring…
1 comment:
i know one neighborhood kid that would be glad to mow your lawn for you, but more to the sound of "cha-ching" :)
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