Three calls. Fifteen minutes. After four days on call and 5 calls so far today, I was sitting at my desk near tears thinking "there's no way I can handle this." We've got one van, and today had been crazy enough. And where the heck was the seventh floor morgue? Did they make it up? That had to be wrong. But no, asking for directions from the ER nurse confirmed yes, it did exist. However to get in my co-worker and I would have to park on the roof of the building (where, much to our relief there was a parking lot- an important detail we didn't get) and take an elevator down. While I was waiting in the van, wondering, not for the first time, just what in the world I've gotten myself into with this job, when the bells for the Angelus started to ring. From where we were parked, I had a clear view of the church that rang the first bell; a beautiful, old cathedral. What I didn't expect was to be able to hear all the bells from all the surrounding churches. From street level they're drowned out in the hustle and noise of the cars and general chaos of city life except for the church you're near. To hear that many bells ringing at once for the first time since I was in Italy was breathtaking- especially since it happened at a time when I desperately needed to be reminded to stop, breathe, and calm down. By the time the bells had stopped chiming, I certainly was calmer- did things get less crazy? No. But I realized I needed to step back, breathe, and eventually it will get done. Being angry, complaining, or just freezing won't fix it. Not being on call
, a mass-movie-pizza night, and coffee? Might make things a whole lot better :)