Nurses are off limits

It's funny lately. There are a lot of nursing students and young nurses around right now, and I'll admit, it can make it difficult to concentrate. Of course, I try (and fail) to involve these students in patient care, but it's a lost cause. Oh I'm just the student. Oh I don't know. It's an issue with me, because it's a cop out I used a lot. There's a difference in not knowing and not thinking.

I decided early in the game that nurses were off limits. Part of it is a bit of intellectual elitism. Most nurses are as blue collar as they come. It's a job that only in the last 15 years or so actually required formal college education. The BSN degree is a bit of a new thing. My mom barely remembers to list it as her degree of training.

And I'm big enough to admit that I'm a bit of a snob. I want to go out with someone who is a little more cosmopolitan, someone who took some history classes or English courses, someone who took art history because she realized that there's more to art than pretty pictures. I'm not saying that nurses are not capable of this. I've been to museums with my mom, and she's no slouch.

It's just that people who go into nursing, for the most part, aren't looking for intellectual stimulation. In my mom's day, it was what women did; they became nurses and teachers. Nowadays, women go into nursing because it's a job that pays 40k a year plus sweet benefits.

The other reason I try to avoid nurses is that I think it's unwise to dip your pen in the company ink. That's just good practice.

But I'll admit, there have been a few cute nurses that caught my eye. Can't be helped. I have friends who've dated (and married) nurses, radiology techs, and all sorts of support staff. But for the most part, these women do not interest me, other than visually. Funny thing about my life right now: I'm surrounded by women but no real prospects.

Maybe it's time I put myself out there again and tried to make myself more available. Heaven knows, I could use the practice.