by Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe
During my years as an Operating Room nurse I worked with an excellent anesthetist who had an ego as big as the universe itself. He was argumentative, given to an eternal desire to be 'right' in every opinion he expressed and this made him very temperamental at times, something we all ignored of course. A discussion had taken place about an event where clearly somebody had made a mistake, and how upset the person was feeling.
Well, that caused him to utter the unforgettable words, and words that remain connected to him to this day, even though he well might have been right in his declaration.
He stated
"I have never made a mistake in my life, wouldn't know the feeling!".
Well, good for you we all thought, but he always seemed to say those egotistical things when we were not in a position to give a rebuttal. It drove us Operating Room Nurses, all Type A personalities, right around the bend and over the edge.
Then one fateful day when he was getting ready to do a General Anaesthetic he mumbled something that sounded like "I MADE A MISTAKE!".
Every person in the OR, the surgeon, surgical assistant and five Operating
Nurses turned and stared at him in total 'shock and awe'! Did he say what we thought he did? He had a wonderful singing voice and was singing to himself as he prepared his medications for the day.
Then he realized what he had said, and what was happening around him and the silence that had fallen over the whole room. He had to think fast and rapidly regain his composure, or lose his reputation as 'The World Class Egomaniac' of all time, a title he dearly cherished just to be different. The wheels were turning in his head and finally he had what he considered a good comeback.
He then spoke the words for which he will forever be remembered.
With great pride, and not blinking an eye, he said "I thought I made a mistake but my mistake was that I thought I was mistaken."
They're all still laughing!
And so am I!
Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe RN
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"A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside."
~ Denis Waitley ~
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