AM ER

I am not a morning person. By that I mean I get physically ill if I have to get out of bed before noon. I usually wake up about an hour before I have to be at work...even though I work 5 minutes from home and getting ready takes me about another 5 minutes. This may seem like a contradiction...but it takes that long for the nausea to pass and for my brain to switch to the ON position so I can actually drive to work.

Normally I get to the hospital around 8am. For someone like me, for whom mornings are the devil...everyone is generally lucky I'm wearing pants at that ungodly hour of the day. Anyone who has worked with me for any length of time learns to not bitch and complain to me for the first hour or so I'm there. Just let me have my coffee and do my morning routine (set up the exam rooms for the day, turn on the x ray machine to warm up, make sure there are enough packs sterilized for the surgeries scheduled, etc...etc...) and dont bug me.

That said.  Should an emergency come through the doors bright and early, my adrenaline kicks in, the clouds lift from my brain and it's GO TIME!

If you bring in your dog cradled in a blanket covered in blood, crying and pleading for us to save her...I will jump to attention IMMEDIATELY and do everything in my power to stabilize her and save her.

BUT. If, when I ask how and especially WHEN this tragedy happened....expecting you to say something to the tune of "about 15 minutes ago...she ran out the door when I was leaving for work"..and you tell me it happened EIGHT EFFING HOURS AGO and you were just too cheap to take her to the vet ER...don't expect me to be very nice.

The ER is expensive. I know that. I've taken my own pets there several times over the past 20 years. You figure it out. Put a cpl dollars from each paycheck away in an emergency fund.Beg and borrow from friends and family. Sell something. Max out your credit cards. YOU took on the responsibility for this animals life....she depends on you and you alone. And when it comes down to a life or death emergency...and you decide to save a few bucks by letting her suffer all night long(like the owner who's dogs eye FELL OUT and was hanging by a thread on its cheek ALL NIGHT)...don't get offended when I point out that you are a moron who may very well have just cost your pet who you claim to love like a child, her life.

I already explained...I'm cranky in the morning.