Wednesday, 8/4/10

I've been putting in a lot of hours as the fill-in receptionist at the medical office of that certain government "agency" for whom I've worked off and on since January. I love being part of it all, and I swear if they had an open position for a culinary writer I would take it, no questions asked. Alas, I think they're only looking for economists and analysts…maybe some day.

There is enough staff in the building to justify an entire medical office, complete with a doctor, two nurse practitioners, an office manager and a receptionist (me). It's important to mention that a large percentage of the people in that building have been with the government for over fifteen years (some of them pushing 40 years…) and they all know each other. For example, one of my tasks is to answer the phone….

"Good Morning, Medical Services."

"Who is this?"

"….um, it's Jackie."

"Jackie who? Where's Christina?"

"She's on vacation. Can I help you?"

"……….[contemplative breathing]"

"Hello?"

"I'll call back next week." [Click]

We obviously serve as sort of a last-minute on-the-site resource, and see a lot of headaches, blisters and stomach flus. Within the past week, however, we've seen a huge increase in the number of sore throats with chest congestion and fatigue. They've been coming in at least five times a day and I think I'm even experienced enough to now treat the ailment and write a prescription for a Z Pack.

So imagine my annoyance when I woke up Tuesday morning with glass shards in my throat, a killer headache and an elephant sitting on my chest. I managed to drag myself out of bed, throw my hair in a loose pony tail and find something comfortable in my closet that resembled business casual. But by Wednesday I was finding it hard to function, and things were only getting worse. I made the executive decision that it would be best for my health to simply go home and rest instead of slave over a hot grill all night serving food to the public…and so I missed my first class. I was very disappointed, and even had an incredibly hard time falling asleep because of relentless visions of a pop quiz or an essential lesson that I could possibly be missing. We have a very low attendance rate in our class for some reason, even lower as we get close to graduation, yet I've always maintained perfect attendance. Chef made a comment once about how our class is not afraid to skip, and it killed me to think that he thought I was "one of them."

The night off did wonders for my body, though, and I was ready to tackle the day today, albeit with a small bit of mending left to do. SoreThroatGate 2010 seems to be winding down, even though unfortunately I was collateral damage in the end-of-summer epidemic. Hey, it could have been worse – I hear explosive diarrhea is making a comeback.