“Can I bring my baby to the interview?”
The message came in at 11 PM:
“Hi, I have an interview with you tomorrow at 2 PM. My childcare fell through. Can I bring my 8-month-old? I understand if you need to reschedule.”
Old me would have rescheduled.
Unprofessional. Distraction. Red flag.
New me replied:
“Absolutely. See you tomorrow.”
She showed up with her baby on her hip.
She apologized three times before even sitting down.
Ten minutes in, the baby started crying.
She tried to soothe him while answering questions.
She apologized again.
I stopped the interview and said:
“Hey. You’re managing a fussy baby, answering complex questions, and staying calm under pressure. That’s literally the job. Handling chaos while staying professional. You’re already proving you can do it.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
We hired her.
She’s been with us for a year now.
The most reliable team member we have.
Why?
Because when you’re used to handling a screaming infant at 3 AM and still showing up to work the next day, workplace stress feels like nothing.
Working parents, especially mothers, are some of the most organized, efficient, and resilient people you’ll ever hire.
Yet we lose them because our hiring processes are built for people with zero caregiving responsibilities.
If your interview process can’t accommodate a parent facing a childcare issue, you’re not filtering for professionalism.
You’re filtering for privilege.
Iceland is the world’s biggest consumer of SSRIs. They’ve had less than 10 gun homicides since 2020; in the US, there have been over 90,000.
Japan is one of the largest video game markets in the world. They have 10 gun deaths per year; the US has nearly 50,000.
It’s the guns.
@SenBillCassidy I hope you are aware that physicians in your home state are absolutely appalled at the way you have caved to the party line instead of putting the health of America first. We will actively campaign against you from now on.
There is no such fucking thing as being “too woman” to pilot a helicopter, “too gay” to land a plane or “too black” to be an air traffic controller.
There is however, such a thing as being too hateful, too stupid & too sociopathic to be president.
And we call that Donald Trump.
To all of my friends, family, and followers in both Canada and Mexico… please know that enlightened, educated, and intelligent Americans did NOT vote for this bullshit.
Has anybody tried giving burnout lectures to the healthcare system decision makers about how to cause less burnout rather than lecturing the burnt out on how to be less burnt out
Dr. Ben Mauck was not just a “healthcare worker.” He was my friend, one of the most skilled hand surgeons we had here in #Memphis. #EndGunViolence#orthopedics