Today was new recruits day – the day our Lab Assistants arrive to start their duties. I’ll admit I was in a bit of a daze at first, seeing so many short-coats with their limbs still intact, five-fingered hands waving at me nervously. But they signed up, and soon enough they would show whether they merited a scholarship or disability leave. Disability leave was the norm for those that survived.
Our first reportable event occurred within minutes, with a fellow named “George” getting a little too curious around the cages marked “Keep Clear – BIOHAZARD.” Any parts of George that had not managed that were no longer apparent.
Once the cleanup was over, the first job at the lab many of them had, the Lab Assistant Wrangler, or as he likes to be known: “the LAW,” showed up. Let the shouting commence! So many were back to washing glassware that there was a crowding at the tub, even though many didn’t know what they were doing. Papers ended up “filed” in the autoclave (which can, I suppose, look like a safe…), agar plates ended up stacked and cleaned (ruining the cultures, I might add…) and the remainder of the researchers quickly covered their projects to make sure any random bits weren’t taken to be washed. We’ve had talks with the LAW before, but he doesn’t seem to get the difference between a culture and a dirty agar plate. News: a dirty agar plate is UNCOVERED, doesn’t have a DATE and TIME on it, and isn’t labeled with a SEAL saying DANGER: PATHOGENIC!
I am so going to have to have a talk with LAW one of these days. Still, he apparently is going to be transferred over to the West laboratory. So we’ll see how that goes.