In dire need of a holiday

April has been a hectic month. There was a period where I was at the hospital everyday for 13 continuous days with absolutely no weekend break.

Thus, it is of no surprise how much I am so looking forward to my holiday in Java. Of course, knowing me, planning the travel itself gives me a buzz. All Abg said was, you plan everything and just give me the itinerary so I know what is happening.

The hospital was in the news recently. A former patient of ours had gone to see a reporter and moaned about the bad treatment he got from an MO of the ward where he was recently admitted. Now, since the article did not mention the name of the MO, everyone who had seen the patient is now required to write a report, including yours truly.

Hmph. Macam la aku takde kerja lain.

I know think hope the person he meant wasn't me because he came to our table to say hello this morning. I couldn't bear to look at his face and be courteous. As much as I wasn't really chummy with the person whom the patient complained about, there is a sense of loyalty towards a work colleague and I am sure this is all just a misunderstanding.

Anyway, while I was chatting with my boss, I remarked on the fact that when I was studying in Belfast, the wards' notice boards were always full of thank you cards and every other day the nurses would get gifts of chocs and cakes and flowers. Perhaps it is part of their upbringing, being constantly reminded to watch their Ps and Qs and the practice of writing thank you notes after receiving gifts for birthdays and Christmases.

At bus stops, people would form a queue based on the order they arrived and they would get on the bus in the same manner. I wonder what people thought of our custom of jostling and elbowing our way in. Cars would stop to let you cross the street and men would hold the doors open for you. Till now, I still find myself holding doors open for the person behind me to come through.

So much for Adat Ketimuran, huh.

Anyway, I digress. I just had my last call of the month last night and it was pretty laidback considering the MO the night before could only sleep at 4 and the casualty had been kept busy till the end of the night shift. It's been a pretty good run the whole month so I am now anticipating a highly jonah oncall, which in the past, had always turned up just before a holiday.