Big City Living
Life in the big city is unforgiving. Sure, this was my dream and I got it: I’m a cardiologist living in the Big Apple in a beautiful apartment on 74th and Madison, just a stone’s throw from the Park. I have the most amazing coffee shop around the corner, a market selling all the world’s best wines across the street, and a world-class museum just a block away. I exercise whenever I have a chance at the end of the day in Central Park, enjoying a good jog or bike ride no matter the season. I literally am surrounded by everything I ever hoped for.
However, it’s not all fun and games. I’m now so busy with my new posting at the hospital that I barely have time for myself. Sure, I have all the best restaurants in the world a cab’s-ride away, but I rarely have the time or energy to go, so I usually end up ordering takeout. Still, even with my hectic lifestyle, my life’s all I wanted it to be and I love Manhattan.
It’s just the little things that consume most of my spare time and I find that very annoying. Take laundry for example…I have no time to be doing laundry! I drop my stuff off weekly at a cleaner’s near my apartment and they bring it in the very next day. However, they’re not always the best at timely deliveries, let alone following instructions. And if you’ve lived in a big city, you’ll know this is true all over. That’s why, when a banker friend of mine came to visit and showed me the can of spray she never travels without, I got hooked on deCrease.
Now, whether I’m using my scrubs (most of the week) or wearing a button-down and trousers for office visits, I’m always looking slick. Last week, as the Head of Cardiology in my hospital, Dr. Khatri, was checking in on our department, I met him in the morning for some rounds wearing my favorite pin-stripe shirt I decreased just that morning. With him always being an immaculate, sharp dresser, I thought that detail would matter. After lunch we met again for a department meeting and, knowing his reputation as a man with an eye for neatness and detail, I hung and sprayed my shirt with deCrease again during my lunch hour in my private office. After the meeting, as we were all leaving the conference room, Dr. Khatri, man of few words that he is, grabbed my arm and said “an excellent doctor is also a neat doctor, well done”. As he turned and walked away, I knew exactly what he meant.
It’s funny how something as trivial as a friend visiting for the weekend turned me onto such an amazing life hack as deCrease. Long story short, now I have one less annoying detail to worry about in my full-schedule life. Oh, and I keep one in the office as well.