Fiorello LaGuardia (1882-1946)
Nursing as school, divorced, second Working as for Christina starting Married, her with a good living, and more importantly, a new sense of self-worth. But she had to get past this interview. She was petrified.
The dean of nursing didn't help. She was late middle-aged, stiff, starched, formal and forbidding. She didn't even smile as her secretary brought Christina in.
Christina knew eye contact was important, so looking the dean straight in the eye; she walked briskly across the office, extended her hand for a firm handshake...and tripped over the waste- basket, flat on her face.
Mortified, she scrambled around on the floor, stuffing crumpled papers back in the basket and stammering apologies.
"Forget those," the dean barked. "Just take a seat, anywhere, and let's begin."
Christina got up and sat in the first seat she saw. The dean stood over her, scowling down, and said, "That's my chair. Please sit over there." Indeed, she saw, the buttons on the telephone and calculator were facing in her direction. She scuttled around the desk.
The dean asked all the normal questions about grades and motivation. One after another they came in rapid fire, no discussion, no notes. Christina answered them all smoothly, but felt sure the dean was rushing her. Just before noon, the interview ended and the dean hadn't smiled or said a kind word once. Christina was devastated.
A few weeks later, though, she was accepted. At school, Christina learned that the dean had a drinking problem and always rushed through her late-morning appointments to get out for a few drinks at lunchtime. After graduation, Christina spent 12 years as a nurse and was promoted to surgical technician in 1995, working in the operating room.
Not all bad luck is fatal.
