At work today one of my co-workers happened to glance out the window and glimpsed a car pull into our parking lot with an official seal on the car door.  Her face suddenly went white as she said, “Oh no is that car from the state?”  I responded with a quizzical look.  “We got inspected a couple weeks ago and they must be back,” she explained.

My whole work place went into a mode of hushed panic as everyone scrambled to make sure things were put right.  It must be like the feeling a restaurant owner gets with a surprise visit from the health inspector.

I can’t imagine that my place of work has any violations against them.  Ever since becoming an employee of this surgical center I have been nothing short of impressed with the attention to cleanliness and sterility that happens daily.  The floors are mopped daily, the privacy curtains are washed regularly, the walls are washed weekly, and all surfaces are wiped down as soon as they are touched.

Apparently, the state inspector had returned to go over issues from the latest inspection and was taking a look around again today.  Everyone scrambled to tidy up.  There is a room outside the operating rooms where the doctor who was working today had a travel mug with hot tea in it.  I guess that’s a no-no and someone quickly took the mug away.  Later, when the doctor was finished, he came out and announced with some irritation that “Someone took my mug of tea.”  The head nurse told him in a hushed tone that “The state is here and we had to remove your mug of tea.  We poured out the tea and put the mug in your locker.”  “Ohhh,” the doctor replied with understanding.  In the recovery area where I work, cupboards and drawers were quickly checked and someone suggested I remove the bag of throat lozenges I had placed in one drawer a few weeks back when I needed them for a cough.  “Why?” I asked.  “Because we aren’t supposed to have food in this area,” was the response I got.  “Cough drops aren’t food,” I replied with a giggle.  I was told to put them away just in case.  The funniest part though, was this.  Our building has a flat roof and, despite roof repairs a year ago, occasionally water gets through and we have areas with some dripping.  With all the snow and rain we’ve had lately, well, we had a dripping spot in the recovery area that we had a bucket sitting under to catch the drips.  Better to have a bucket in the middle of the floor than to have people slipping on a wet spot.  Thanks to the state inspector being in the building, the bucket got quickly put away.  Every minute or so, a drop of water would form and hang from the ceiling, then finally fall.  I took upon the task of watching the ceiling and with a rolled paper towel in hand  I would stand on tip toe and reach up to grab that drop of water before it left the ceiling.  Honestly.

The bible tells us that when Jesus comes again we “Must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.”  (Luke 12:40)  Well I certainly hope I will be ready for that surprise visit – and without all the panic!  The way everyone scrambled today in fearful intimidation was almost comical.  But seriously, it was good to know that my place of work is so concerned with protocol and policy.  Now for Jesus’ return?  Ha!  I’m not going to be worrying about the roof leaking.

But I’m going to be ready 🙂

Just Laurel

btw – Meijer had Xanthan Gum (in case you read yesterday’s blog).  They had a large bag by Bob’s Red Mill for $11.99 (ouch) and the one I bought was a small bag by Hodgson Mill for 99 cents.  Yeah!  Tomorrow I bake the Potato Bread!  Stay tuned.