You see but you do not observe

I was helping a room move a patient to the bed as the case was done.

When I noticed that the positioner was in a clamp that was, in a word, janky.

It was an ill fitting rusted clamp.

That was on upside down.

I asked the room why this clamp.

Why this clamp that I was pretty sure had been thrown away.

Someone had obviously saved it.

The nurse in the room laughed and said she could not find any other clamps.

I looked at her incredulously.

No other clamps, I repeated.

Um.

I can find 20 clamps in 5 minutes.

No one believed me.

The nurse and the tech trailed behind me as I went to the desk and labeled 6 pieces of paper with the numbers 1-6.

I looked at the nurse who could not find any other clamps and told her to time me.

I went through all of the OR rooms in four minutes and 32 seconds.

I did not find 20 clamps.

I found 30.

At the end, I explained to them the best hiding in plain sight that clamps do.