Itty Bitty Buddha

I came into work last night and was presented with an itty bitty Buddha in a box that opens up to double as a sort of cardboard niche shrine by two of the officers. The officer that writes on this blog and the "Mama" of the shift co-conspired. It was such a nice, random gift, in a tough night. Last night I had to deal with patient abandonment, sending and agency nurse home early, and a disfigured Columbian dwarf drug dealer going into labor with her 7th child.

This Buddha is the fat, happy, laughing Buddha you see a lot in China. Not the serious, skinny, meditating Siddhartha Gautama Buddha pictured above. Granted that picture is also from China, but that is the Siddhartha and his two primary pupils, in the Indian tradition. Although this more common Buddha is serene, he often seems very remote and unattainable to me. With the laughing Buddha I look at him and think "bring me some luck fat boy." I have him open, sitting on his little altar, and housed in his red and gold shrine on my desk as I write. Thanks ladies, the itty bitty gift is appreciated in a big way.