We’re human, you guys.

Every last one of us.

Sometimes I think we forget.

We get irritated at the slow checkout line lady.

Or annoyed when the barista gets our order wrong in the drive thru.

We grumble about lawyers or overpriced HVAC repairmen.

We say things like, “Those damn doctors!”

Can I just throw out the reminder that ALL those people are human??

As one of those ‘damn doctors’, can I tell you sometimes I head to work having just had an absolutely TERRIBLE morning?

Like, maybe I spilled breakfast down my shirt or the dog has diarrhea or I woke up 50 times overnight because one of my kids has the stomach flu…

So, before the workday even begins I’m already completely exhausted.

Then sometimes once I get there, I find myself in the millionth exam room and I realize I haven’t stopped to pee all morning.

And I REALLY have to go.

REALLY.

I try very, very hard to concentrate on my patient’s words or, you know, heart sounds.

But also…my eyes are floating.

Once during residency while I was 7 months pregnant and on-call covering the OB floor, I chugged a giant OJ two seconds before starting an ultrasound.

And halfway into the exam, I KNEW I was gonna puke.

So, I calmly finished. Rolled the ultrasound cart into the hallway. Proceeded to the nearest restroom. And hurled.

Then after I rinsed my mouth and washed my hands and splashed a little water on my face, I returned to the patient’s room and delivered her baby.

The whole time the L&D nurse was asking me with her eyes, “You okay???” But my eyes could only shrug in reply, “Meh.”

You know, I spent YEARS struggling through 30-hour shifts at the hospital while my marriage was crumbling.

And once I forgot my breast pump at home and spent the whole day wincing in pain and hoping no one bumped into me lest they get an eye full of milk.

My point is, WE’RE HUMAN!!!

The waitress taking 20 minutes to bring out your drinks?

That crabby mechanic at the tire place?

The guy preparing loan paperwork on your new house?

Your child’s teacher??

ALL HUMAN!!!

Maybe cut ‘em a break.

Offer up some grace.

It’s possible she’s having a terrible morning.

Maybe he was up all night with sick kids.

Perhaps she’s about to upchuck her OJ.

Or maybe she forgot her breast pump at home and she’s trying very hard not to explode.

I know. I know.

We’ve all got a job to do.

An expectation to meet.

A service to give.

A certain standard to achieve.

But please remember.

We are ALL human, too.

Every last one of us.

And maybe…

She just really needs to pee!!