The post-it reads “Maybe this time. The OR lament.”
Apologies to Liza Minnelli and Cabaret and Fred Ebb and John Kander.
Who is singing? A circulator? A surgeon? A scrub tech?
Who knows.
The OR Lament
Maybe this time it’ll be lucky
Maybe this time the fix’ll stay
Maybe this time, for the first time
The fracture will hold
The screw will hold the bone fast
I’ll get to go home on time at last
Not in overtime anymore
Like the last time and the time before
Everybody loves an on-time start
And nobody loved me
Hey, charge nurse please
Home is where I long to be
Well, all the odds are, they’re not in my favor
The add-ons are bound to begin
It’s gotta happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time I’ll plead
‘Cause everybody, oh, they love a cancellation
Not an add-on case
Hey, charge nurse please
Home is where I long to be
Well, all the odds are never in my favor
The phone’s bound to ring
It’s gotta happen, happen sometime.
Maybe this time
Maybe this time I’ll get to go home first
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 