A while ago, Dr. S asked me if my old lab had a nickname for me. "Not one they'd say to my face," I said. (I had, I regret to say, a host of nicknames, especially for our rotation students, whose names I could never remember, and for the undergrads, especially the one who said 'But titanium is a biological ion! ... isn't it?' in lab meeting once.)
Anyhow, I think if they had one, it was probably something like Ice Princess, only less polite. Somehow that reminded me of being pregnant. Only one person touched my belly without asking, and she's my spouse's favorite aunt, so she gets a pass.
I must exude some powerful kind of Don't Touch Me, I'll Bite That Hand Right Off.
Ack, that'll teach me to delete a deleted comment.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I was puzzled, as I expected to be constantly assaulted. But no. Nobody wanted to touch the belly.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in grad school, I checked my department mailbox and found a hand drawn picture of a an angry face. It was like this (http://www.clker.com/cliparts/Y/k/3/a/u/S/angry-face-symbol-md.png) only with a frown and curly hair.
ReplyDeleteI looked at it and made an angry face. When I realized I was making the exact face depicted by the drawing, I stopped. It was spot on.
To this day, I have no idea who drew it or why. I found it hilarious in an ironic way.
I took it back to lab and hung it above my bench- kind of like a warning. All my lab mates got a kick out of it (perhaps one of them was the artist?).
I think I saved it when I packed up my stuff, but honestly, hadn't thought about it in ages until I read your post. Given the urge to draw an angry-faced picture of me, I'm sure you can imagine the nicknames they gave me.
My colleague and I were discussing this the other day. Not a soul touched my belly while I was pregnant, and her department hugger has not once made a move in her direction. We, too, give off the touch-me-and-lose-an-appendage aura....
ReplyDeleteI thought it was just me!! Friends grump about people attempting to touch their bellies while pregnant...the only one who ever tried was the "oblivious-to-all-social-cues lady" at work. And she got a pass because she was, well, oblivious to the aura of "I'll beat you with your hand if you touch me" that I apparently exude.
ReplyDelete