Lab Rules

Lab induction. Tick.

Boredom. Tick.

Apprehension about working in a lab? Tick...

Any workplace has its rules. But if I ignore the office rule about not printing double-sided and accidentally jam the photocopier, big deal, I'll unjam it. In the lab, I could forget to unscrew a bottle of chemical and cause an explosion that endangers human lives. Or leave the door to the minus 80 freezer open and be kicked out of the university for destroying years of work.

'Always work with liquid nitrogen in an open environment.'

'Never go into the cold room after hours by yourself.'

'Phenol can give you third-degree burns, ethidium bromide can intercalate with your DNA and possibly give you cancer, etc.'

'Do this, don't do that, somehow you need to remember everything I tell you or else you could cause serious injury.'

If I hadn't worked in a lab before, then I would be feeling pretty anxious about working in this lab environment. Good thing I've seen all this before and am feeling totally fine about all of this. Ha.

Gulp.