Dress Thyself

Doctor Bill was in one of our classes last semester. He wasn't just a mid-career practicing physician going back to school, he was a dad with teenage daughters. And he wasn't just a surgeon, he was a neurosurgeon. We all liked him for what he contributed to the class and for not being an arrogant jerk like so many of his colleagues. Yet because it was very hard to compliment him without sounding like I was putting down his profession, I ended last semester with a vague comment to him that conveyed none of our appreciation but all of my awkwardness.

Last semester, Doctor Bill always showed up to class late and in scrubs, sometimes with a white coat. The uniform elicited eye rolls at first but gradually became part of his intrigue. He was fit. He was tanned. And he was in scrubs. Today, we saw him in civilian clothing for the first time. We also saw him without his charm and intrigue for the first time. Though I'm grateful that the sight of him was the sole force keeping me awake and amused for the 120 minute lecture this afternoon. It wasn't just the dad jeans, but that he wore them with an over sized orange shirt. And a sweater vest. An orange-green-red sweater vest. It prompted Amy to comment that she "only gets surgery from well-dressed people" and led to this awesome graph (I supplied the points), a graph that every patient should know: