Apparently...

when Emily gets hot, it is REALLY hot.

Yesterday as I was meticulously plating various dilutions of cells on the plates, I had my bunsen burner fired up close by, the temperature of the lab was somewhere around 80 degrees F, and I had, oh, three layers of airtight, windbreaker style fabrics hugging my body. It was definitely getting a bit warm.

So, flushed and uncomfortable, I went to the bathroom and promptly removed two offending layers and emerged in a short sleeved top, free and easy and breezy.

Immediately the comments began to roll.

First, my mentor who sailed into the room from outside let out a "Whoa!" and then he said, "it's like a freakin' sauna in here." Then, he added, "And you know when you see EMILY in a tank top, that's saying something."

Fine fine, so one person makes a remark.

Then, my boss, the chief of the lab, whips around the corner to talk to one of the postdocs. Satisfied with whatever she had to tell him, she whips out again only to pop her head back into my corner and grins, going "Boy, must sure be hot when you see EMILY stripping down."

Then another coworker pipes in, "Yeah, YOU must be really cold-blooded!"

I smiled back at her weakly. Man oh man, what am I? A snake? The local eskimo girl? The Russian layer doll? Okay fine, I don't deal with the cold very well, but I am already made the butt of all cold jokes at home, it seems that I was not to be spared at work.

What annoyed me further was that I couldn't come up with something quick and witty to retort back. Yes, I am afraid of the cold. Feel free to use me as the room thermometer or some human litmus test of how hot it is.

All I could do was shrug and take comfort in the fact that at least I have nice arms to show off. Hahahaha.