The autopilot

When I was a phlebotomist, I used to have a set schpiel that I would say as I entered a patient's room. I would knock on the door and say "Good morning, this is Spaceman Spiff, I'm here from the lab to draw a little blood today." Every single patient was greeted this way. This morning, as I walked into my patient's darkened room, I knocked on the wall and said "Good morning, this is Spiff from the la-....medical school, I'm here to draw- examine you this morning." I guess I have a pretty deeply ingrained pavlovian reflex.

-SS.