Getting Brushed Off 

 Dot was one of the nurses with whom I worked in the emergency department. She was an older woman who was extremely neat. Every hair had to be in place, her uniform was spotless, and her shoes were shined within an inch of their life. She always wore her nursing cap securely fastened to top of her dark curls.

            One of our emergency room doctors was her complete opposite. If you remember the television program, “The Odd Couple,” then you can understand what I am trying to explain.

His clothing was always rumpled and more often than not covered in dog hair. His gray hair was longer and unkempt. Sometimes he even sported a couple of day’s growth of whiskers.

            He had one big bug-a-boo. He hated when restroom doors were left ajar. He wouldn’t just close it, but he would slam any bathroom door that was open. You could tell when he made rounds, because somewhere on the floor a door would bang shut.

            One afternoon Dot was fastening her hat in the nurse’s restroom when the doctor entered the adjoining lounge. He poured his cup of coffee and turned to leave and saw the door was open. BANG, he slammed it shut. Turning on his heel, he took his cup of coffee and walked to the desk at the nursing station.

            A few seconds later Dot stormed out of the lounge. She was as hot as the doctor’s coffee. Her face was red and there was dirt and debris nestled in her hair, scattered on her hat, and across the shoulders of her crisp, white uniform.

            When the doctor slammed the door, the air pressure lifted up the ceiling tiles and dirt that had collected on the top side of the tiles rained down on her.

            She stood beside the physician till he sat his coffee down, then grabbed his coat sleeve and dragged him back to the lounge, shoving him into the bathroom and slamming the door. WHAM, WHAM, WHAM! The noise resounded out to the desk area. She left the lounge and went into a patient’s restroom to brush off her uniform and to pick the dirt out of her hair.

            A few minutes later, the much chagrined doctor emerged from the lounge with a sheepish smile on his face. He was covered with large amounts of dirt and dust on his head and shoulders. Unfazed, he rolled his eyes, ran his hand through his hair, and brushed the dirt from his jacket.  He seemed rather amused about it all and picked up his coffee to take a sip.