Lessons in humility

Everyone has those little moments in life that make you want to slink away and hope that no one saw you. I had one just recently. I'll share it with you since I can slink away behind the anonymity of this blog.

One of the ortho docs was down to see a patient of mine. He asked me to grab some meds out of the accudose while he got the paperwork together at the staff station. I was leaning up against the counter, laughing with the rest of them, while drawing up the lidocaine. Normally you inject a little air into the vial so when you draw up the med the pressures equalize. Well, my friends, I discovered that when drawing up 1% Lidocaine from a 30 ml single use vial, it is a bad idea to inject air. A bad idea.

Before I could even react, the top to the vial exploded off and lidocaine shot everywhere. On my shirt, on my hands, on my face, on the accudose screen...everywhere. I kid you not, it was even dripping off my eyebrows. Everyone stared for a good three seconds, then burst into hysterical laughter. I was so in shock that I could do nothing except blankly stare at the now empty vial in my hand. Mortifying, I tell you.

Although in all fairness, I probably would have laughed at myself too. But I couldn't feel my face.