First Post Of The Day

To the girl on the bus this afternoon:
First up your skin is orange, which I would get looked at if it wasn't for the tide marks all over your hands that tells me it's a fake tan. Second your hair is bleached and straightened beyond all compare and the braiding just tops the look off, along with the HUGE silver hoops jammed into your stretched earlobes. Lastly my one great problem are the chewed to heck fingernails covered in sparkly pink nail polish that even I grew out of when I was about 15 (and that would be considered old). I know you are better than this.
Don't look at me like that, yes I look scruffy. I'm hiding a tunic behind this old fleece jacket and these black trainers have survived 2 placements now (they are tired from use already). My placement is over and the knees of my uniform trousers show it. They are worn and covered with dust and dirt from kneeling on peoples' floors redressing their wounds and caring for them. My nails are cut short and unvarnished, so that they don't tear the skin of the vulnerable older adults I work with and they can no longer be reservoirs of infection.
Am I better than this? I can clean up but I like my dirty knees from being with patients and the fleece has been with me since the beginning. I like being a nurse, even a lowly student. So no I don't want to change.
But I'd reconsider the orange skin.