"So, what are you doing for Christmas Break?"
I must not be a very patient person because I get very annoyed with this question. I feel like I shouldn't be because isn't it very nice that people are interested in me and are asking perfectly appropriate social questions?
The irritating thing, I suppose, is that I don't get a Christmas Break. I am coming quickly upon 30 years old, have been out of school for almost 4 years, and rarely even have Christmas itself off. Odds are, I'll be up all night seeing patient's in the ER while Santa is ushering in a wonderful day for you and your family to begin the next morning as you sleep in late and look forward to days or even weeks off.
I guess your question is like rubbing salt in the wound. It's a painful reminder that my time isn't always my own. That while others are enjoying life and making memories I am often at work.
This year was different, however. I got lucky! This month I am rotating on a team that doesn't really need me. I am lucky to be there to learn about what they do but they really don't need me for much of anything. This has translated into a lot of extra time off over the past 10 days or so. Finishing work early or even just getting extra days off has been such a blessing and the closest thing I've had to a Christmas Break in years. Unfortunately, Abraham has been working the typical intern schedule in the ER with nights, weekends, and holiday hours. We still don't know if he will be working tomorrow or not but are planning that he likely will be.
So to answer the above less-annoying-than-usual-and-maybe-not-annoying-at-all question, we spent a few days in Chicago with Abe's family (a yearly tradition), enjoyed a lazy few days opening presents, saw Les Miserables, attended an engagement party (again in Chicago), and today I am starting on my New Years Resolution to have a "house of order" by doing some long put off (for way too many months) cleaning and organizing.
Hope you all had a great "Christmas Break" as well.
3 comments:
"This too shall pass."
Working in medicine is definitely a sacrifice. I'm glad it worked out for you to have so much time off this year--hopefully in years to come it'll get a little better as well. I spent Christmas in the hospital this year with our baby and felt so bad, but was really grateful for the nurses and everyone that worked that day--because that's been me before. But I'd also rather be the healthcare worker on Christmas, knowing I get to go home at the end of the day, than be the patient and sick and in pain on Christmas (not that I was in this instance), and stuck in the hospital.
I hear ya, even though I probably asked you a similar question at some point this year. Pastry Chefs don't usually get Christmas off either, actually it's probably the busiest times of the year. I think when you're near a university with a lot of students they forget that people who work don't actually get a Christmas break, especially people who work in your field. Hopefully you and Ab will get a nice long Christmas together sooner rather than later.
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