So I must have been looking extra fresh-faced today. A patient who was outside smoking, mind you, said to his buddy, “That girl must be a student intern or something.”
EXCUSE ME? What about my business casual dressed self wearing a hospital name badge says student to you? Was it because I appeared to be doing the grunt work? Yes, that was a heavy box.
I wanted to tell him that I am actually a FTE (full-time employee) and that I have a 401k. My business card actually has my name on it and my own extension. That’s right buddy!
I also wanted to tell him that if he’s hospitalized, he really shouldn’t be smoking. And we have a smoke-free campus and he was in clear violation of that policy.
Then I remembered that it doesn’t really matter if I look like a student. Someday I will be begging people to say that about me. He didn’t need me to tell him not to smoke. If he’s hospitalized, he probably knows that. Deep breath.

“I really do work here!”
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