Saving Lives Is In Their Blood

I volunteer in the gift shop of a local hospital. One day a phlebotomist comes in to purchase a gift.

She’s carrying a tote filled with all her supplies, like needles, empty vials, etc. She tells me she’s very late in getting this gift and she needs to find something right away because she’ll be seeing the recipient in a few hours. I help her find an appropriate item. Then, because she’s going to be giving the gift that day right after work, I offer to put it into a nice bag with tissue. I tie some ribbon to the handle to make it more festive, and give her a free gift card to enclose.

She’s thanking me profusely for my wrapping job and then says, in all sincerity, “You’re such a lifesaver.” I look over to her tote and reply, “Umm, I think, literally, you are.”

Made me laugh to myself the rest of my shift at the irony of the fact that I volunteer in a hospital and I’m the lifesaver.