The other day, I had an epiphany about my job.   Something I never realized in 14 years of being a surgeon.  I was scrubbing for a surgery.  I dropped the scrub brush in the sink and walked away.  Inside the OR, I was handed a towel and once I dried my hands, I didn’t have to put the towel away.  A nurse took it from me.  During the case, a surgical tech handed me everything I wanted. If it wasn’t in the room, someone went to get it.  If I dropped something on the floor, I wasn’t expected to pick it up.  As a matter of fact, I wasn’t allowed to pick it up because it would break sterile technique and contaminate the surgical field.   If I spilled bodily fluids, I wasn’t expected to clean up.  At the end of the case, I walked away from the mess.  As I washed my hands at same sink where I had started the day, the scrub brush I had dropped  earlier had been thrown away. Then, I  went home and picked up toys, wiped down sticky countertops, and washed dishes.  Surgery.  It’s the next best thing to being a kid.