Running late this morning, I managed to get every traffic light going my way as I cycled in to work.
I’ve never had such a fast commute; I managed to arrive in theatre just as the list briefing was starting. Phew! I’ve learned my lesson though: I’m never going to try to be early again.
To get into the secure bike cage at the hospital, you have to use your swipe card to both get in and get out. It’s deeply irritating, especially if you’re running late and you have to scrabble around in your bag twice. My swipe cards are on a lanyard that goes around my neck. Handy when there are security doors everywhere round the hospital, but a nightmare for infection control. Every time I have to look after a patient’s airway, my cards are dangling around their face. There’s no other sensible way to do it, though. If I put them in my pocket, they’d end up going to the hospital laundry to be washed and squashed every other week.
In the past there’s been a traffic cone that you could prop the bike cage door open with, whilst you were dropping your bike off or picking it up. Very handy to prevent that second episode of scrabbling through the depths of your bag when you’re supposed to be either already in theatre or cycling home.
Unfortunately, it kept being moved away, presumably by representatives of the nanny state, fearing that the cage would accidentally be left open for marauding bike thieves to come and help themselves. I’m pretty sure I’ve bemoaned this situation on these pages in the past.
However, it turns out that if you have a gentle touch, you don’t need the traffic cone. If you let the door close very carefully, it will stop before latching closed and locked. Thus you can go back through the door on your way out without having to resort to your swipe card once again. Not everyone knows this particular trick, however. A number of times some noddy has come in after me and let the door slam shut. Very annoying. But occasionally, if you’re lucky, a sympathetic fellow cyclist will take care to stop the door locking shut when they exit, meaning they trust that you will take care of the cage’s security when it’s your time to leave. That’s when you know you’re going to have a good day.