I was a bit preoccupied. Preoccupied with what I was going to say. Preoccupied with not getting lost. Getting lost. That was the hard one. Left. Turn right at the first hallway. The right at the last door. It’s easy.
It was not easy.
I have never been great at finding my way. Whether on a hiking trail. Or in life. And particularly, some random doorway down a long corridor where the rest of my life was waiting.
Not to be dramatic or anything.
Bam!
A literal crash of two humans.
“I;m so sorry.” I stammered out.
“You crashed into me”
“I’m sorry. I’m looking for the RT department. Is this the way? I ask, ignoring the fact that I almost knocked a grown adult male, quite possible a physician, to the ground in my preoccupation.
“Hi. I’m Chris.”
“I’m lost. Is this the right way?” Where were my manners, I thought much to late to correct.
“it is. Let me show you”
Chris chatted on, but I heard none of it. Fate. Future. All those thoughts were running through my head.
“Here you are. Good Luck”
“ummm, thanks for the escort”
I had never been one to have concrete goals or plans. I am a person that blows which ever the way the wind blows me. A tumbleweed. Do they even have those in the South? Random thoughts. That’s how my brain works. Jumping from here to there. Focus. I need focus. For my interview. For my life.
“So why respiratory therapy?”
“To be honest, I went to the career fair, and that and x-ray tech were the only two programs still accepting students for the fall. So I enrolled. I’d never even heard of RT, had no idea what they did, or anything.”
Should I be this honest? In an interview? Well, it’s too late to stop…. I thought as I heard myself talking with the department manager, a grizzled old guy named Gus.
“I enrolled. Did well, and found myself actually enjoying learning about the heart and lungs. And clinicals were amazing. ICUs in the first semester”
“We’re no level 1 trauma center” Gus mentioned. “Things aren’t always exciting around here”
“That’s OK. I’m still in school. I can use the downtime to talk to people” Whaaaa- why did I say that? I’m an introvert. I hate talking to people..
“Well, the pay’s not great, and there are no benefits, but I’ll do what I can. We haven’t hired a student in years, but I think you’ll fit in OK around here. The job is yours if you want it.”
“OK. Thanks. I’ll get back to you and we can iron out the details”
Who was this person and what was coming out of her mouth?
“Sounds good. Here’s a card with my direct line on it. You can find your way back to the front of the building can’t you?
‘Yes, Thank you”
With no Chris to guide me, I meandered my way to the front door of my new place of employment.
DMB “Crash into Me”
