Superstition

I'm not too superstitious of a resident so I'm okay with saying that the unit is pretty quiet these days. It fluctuates a lot; we peaked at eighteen patients last week, and now we're down to half that. But it's interesting to watch some of the residents. Despite being scientists, physicians can be a silly superstitious lot. If things are going well, we never say, "things are quiet," because inevitably, that invites more admissions. We tread softly because those who go looking for trouble will find it. We characterize ourselves with "clouds"; those with white clouds have easy days with few admissions and those with black clouds are cursed with non-stop busy nights. I don't generally believe in all of that, but sometimes it's fun to pretend that we have some sway on luck and chance.