sooo a black guy comes in for an x-ray....

as x-ray techs we encounter all sorts of different things that make for good stories. some of them gross. some of them cool. some of them quite unique. but my favorite stories are the funny ones. this is one of my all time favorite stories thus far.

sooo a black guy comes in for an x-ray.....

me: hello Sir, i'm Regina, i'll be taking your chest x-ray.

him: hello Regina, i'll be your patient today.  

[i know i just started, but can i just stop for a moment to say that it's NOT funny when people say that? we've heard that same line plenty of times prior to you, so please withhold from allowing those words to exit your mouth when talking to a healthcare provider. i mean, you could tell my giggle was fake, right?]

we walk into the exam room

me: do you have a t-shirt on underneath that button up shirt?

him: [with tons of attitude] ummm, no! 

at this point i'm not sure why he gave me so much attitude and i'm confused but carry on politely.

me: okay, please take off your button up shirt and then put your chest up against that board.

while he does this i'm at the control panel looking down and doing paperwork. i have everything pre-set so i can see that he's in place and i am ready to take the x-ray. also, it seems that he's taken off everything from his waist, up. i take the xray and notice that on the image he's got a necklace on. i look over at him and he doesn't seem to have anything glimmering from his neck region. super confused, i walk into the room....

me: oh! sir, you've got a necklace on, i'm going to need you to take that off, please.

trying to figure out what just happened, i approach him and as i'm getting closer i realize he has a brown turtle neck shirt on! get outta here! are you kidding me??? the necklace was under the turtleneck.  had he been wearing a white, pink or yellow turtleneck, i would have been able to tell the moment i saw him that he'd had a shirt on underneath his button up! 

moral of the story: don't wear colors that exactly match your skin tone!