Knock, knock

The other day I had my physical examination class on the female breast and pelvic exam (you know, the one for Pap smears).

Yeah, it was not the most comfortable thing to do, but surprisingly, that was not the most awkward thing that happened to me that day.

See, our college got split up into two groups - the second group consisting of only 4 girls. Seeing as to how we had to wait an extra hour before we could go in and work with the standardized patients, we each got to go in separately so that we could perform the entire exam by ourselves. It was our reward for having to wait, they told us. Really, I wouldn't have minded having a partner, or joining a different two-some in the earlier group, but this really isn't part of the story.

After I finished, around 6:15 or so, I went back into our original classroom to pick up my laptop and messenger bag and go home. There was another class in there, and the door was locked, so I was forced to knock.

A student let me in, and the teacher turned to me and barked, "What do you want?"

"I'm so sorry, I was in the earlier class and I left my bag in here," I apologized as I made my way to my seat.

But once I got there (I sit in the very back, because I'm a slacker student like that), my bag wasn't there. Puzzled, I hesitated, and the teacher pounced. "You are disrupting my class," she said angrily - for no good reason, in my humble opinion - but before I could apologize again, she continued, "Are you the pink girl?" The students in the class tittered, and it was clear she had made some disparaging remarks before I even came into the classroom. "Um, yes, I suppose so," I replied, thinking that pink earmuffs and a scarf probably did make me A Pink Girl. "Well then, they moved your stuff into the hallway." "Oh, okay. Thank you, and I'm sorry again," I replied, and starting making my way back to the front. All eyes were on me, and I blushed red with embarrassment as I edged towards the door. I thought that was the end of it, but just as I was about to leave, she turned to me and spat, "How can anyone take you seriously as a med student with all that pink?!"

The class laughed openly.

I hesitated, confused as to why I was being so openly attacked. I had never seen this instructor before in my life. I've never hurt her or kicked her dog or keyed her car or given her any reason to hate me. That day, I was wearing all black under my white coat. There was actually no evidence that I would be a girl who wore pink. And it's not like I wear earmuffs along with my gloves and scarves when I go see actual patients - if that were the case, then I would completely understand why she would be skeptical of my patient-physician abilities, but as it is, she was totally out of line. Yet, in the moment, I didn't think of any of this. I think I muttered something like, "Um, they just do" or something to that effect, and it wasn't until I walked out the door that my face stopped burning from embarrassment and started tooting red from the ears with indignation.

Seriously, why are there so many angry people in the world? I have no idea who she is - I don't believe she was teaching a medical class, and the students ranged from late twenties to early sixties, so I have no idea what class it was. But if I ever see her again, I really do think I'll give her a piece of my mind. Because her anger towards me was completely uncalled for.

There's no punch line to this story, sorry. I just wanted to vent and let it out. So there it is. And now I'm moving on. Unless I happen to see her again, of course.