Smart, pretty or nice? Or neither.

After my last ridiculous episode speaking Italian with a patient, I've been furiously studying the language. Today it finally paid off a little. I had another Italian patient at the hospital named 'Alberta' and she was very distraught about something or other. I managed to communicate with her in Italian so well (ha ha) that one of the other staff members stopped and said, surprised, "You speak the language!"
"A little." I said modestly.
Man, you gotta love some of those old people. They truly lift your spirits. Alberta made me feel like a gifted linguist. (okay, maybe just an over-confidant unalingualist).
Another patient, as I leaned over her bed with a smile, said to me, "Where do they get all you girls from?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"Well, nurse, you're so beautiful you should be in a glamour competition."
Then I heard a voice over the loudspeaker.
"Will the owner of a green volkswagon Jetta please attend to your car? The alarm is going off."
Yup, that's my car. (Actually my sister's, to be honest.) That didn't make me feel very clever, but hey! One can't have everything.
Later on another patient said to me, "Heather, you are the kindest nurse I've ever had."
Which brings me to a very important question. Which is better: To be really ugly, to be really mean, or to be really stupid?
I've had times when I felt all three.....
Well, the correct answer is 'really mean', but I'll let you think about why that's so for a while.
lots of love