MA on Break

Celine is chewing when she walks into the conference-room-turned-break-room on the 8^th floor of the Penn Medicine Building.  “I have to eat where I can fit it in because I am one of the busiest people here.” She sits down in a squishy office chair and spins toward the window, brushing off a crumb near the breast pocket of her maroon scrubs.

“Number one thing for my type of work is you gotta multi task,” she says, thumping her forearms on the table. “A lot of times you’re working with three different doctors. That means three different personalities, three different ways they like to do things, three different glove sizes.” Celine is a Medical Assistant at Penn Fertility Care. She’s the first point of contact with patients; she welcomes, checks weight and blood pressure, eases nerves.

Sometimes the office is so busy the doctors order lunch in to keep the MAs close by, but usually Celine makes it down to a cart on Market Street. “I’ll go down to the Chinese truck for soup,” she said, gesturing out the conference room window. It’s customizable soup, starting at $1.95. She’ll ask for chicken, shrimp, vegetables, extra mushrooms, and extra spice. The Chinese man she compared to Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi remembers her order, keeps her coming back. “I used to be a little sketch about going to the carts, wondering where they wash their hands,” she mentions, “But then I started actually looking, and they do have sinks back there!”

When she’s in the mood for a heavy meal, she’ll go to the halal cart for a platter with rice, lamb, and veggies, smothered with spicy sauce. She likes Subway for the $6 lunch deal: half a sandwich (turkey and cheese, melted with spinach, jalapeños, olives, and oil and vinegar), a drink, and a cookie.

“I’d say Han Dynasty if you want to take a nice lunch and treat yourself,” Celine suggested. “And on a day when you’re broke?” she shook her head, “Old Faithful Wawa.”

Celine rarely packs her lunch, though she cooks often. She makes enough food for the week’s dinners on Sunday and Wednesday. “My boyfriend likes fresh stuff – not processed, not frozen, not canned,” she says with a slight eye-roll, “He wants me to cook cook.” She was pretty happy about the goat and three-bean stew she made the other night and leaned close to tell me the recipe. “The way I make my beans is garlic, thyme, and smoked turkey,” she said. “The Crock-pot is my friend; set it and forget it.”

The fortyish mom of two, self-described as “aggressive, but a softie” is from Northeastern Philadelphia and has been working at Penn Fertility for 13 years. She likes the job despite its challenges. “A doctor yells a you and you just want to cry, and then you have to go out for the next patient,” she said, “We have to speak and smile when we don’t feel like it.”

Lunchtime is precious time to herself; she can turn off the ever-pleasant tone. Plus, she can enjoy her food with out hearing, “Ooo, that looks good,” or “Can I have some, Mom?” from her boyfriend or daughter. Today she’s going to try the new Caribbean Cart on 18^th and Market with the other MAs. She clicks her sparkly lacquered nails on the conference table, ready to get moving.