Monday, April 30, 2007

Pajamas to Work

Yeah, I've been quiet. Stuff happens when you're cramming three weeks' worth of class into two weeks, working eleven out of fourteen days, and moving to Chicago. Just wait; a month from now, I'll be talking about being in school, and this whole bloggity-blog thing should get much more entertaining.

The other day, I got home from work and had someplace to be right away, so I changed into jeans and a new t-shirt, ready to go out. In the process, I realized my attire was actually a little less comfortable. And back in the day, "casual Fridays" were what we lived for. Oh, the folly of the business world.

Panda Bear, MD deserves big ups for speaking the truth on the subject of scrubs as work clothing. As I sit here, working on the last few chapters of my Biochem class and getting various ducks in various rows pre-move, I muse about the settings in which I might be working. I might wear a collared shirt if I'm in a fancy-schmancy clinic where I'd have to wear a white coat, but I'll wear a tie only under extreme duress. I might actually try to insert some fine print into employment contracts saying I don't have to wear no steenkin' necktie if I don't wanna.

Not right out of school, most likely, but that does sound like the kind of thing I'd do.

I was talking with the Future Wife about this very subject a few days back, having changed my shirt after realizing I had some tiny (as in pencil-mark-dot-sized) spots of a) vomit, b) blood, or c) both on my gray tshirt. I'm not so squeamish as PB sounds; I pre-treated the spots and threw the shirt in my regular home laundry. I've been exposed to all manner of flying goo for my three years as an ER tech, and so any job that poses a risk will be one where I scrub it up and don't look back.

I should however mention that I scoff a little at people who work in the file room or front desk of some swanky downtown dermatologist's office, have zero contact with patients beyond the usual pleasanties at check-in, and yet get to wear scrubs. Don't get me wrong; I would too, if I had a desk job and my employer let me, but in my opinion, it's a little poseur-ish.

1 comment:

Serenity Jen said...

Pajamas, yeah, no. I feel the same way about slippers, which for the past few seasons are actually sold as shoes.

My brother-in-law linked this Newsweek article on his livejournal; thought you might be interested. Take it easy!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18368186/site/newsweek/