My transition to the United Kingdom has been largely smooth. No language barrier, very similar social expectations. I’ve done the requisite amount of grumbling about cars (ahem, or buses) driving on the wrong side of the road. I grouse with the best of them about rainy days and gray skies. Overall, though, I’ve been quite happy here, feeling right at home. There are a few instances, however, where the cultural differences have made themselves known. Here, then, the first in a series of anecdotes about being an American scientist in the UK,
Scientists use a lot of unfamiliar tools for doing familiar tasks. Enter: the electric pipetting aid. One of the ways that scientists measure liquids is by drawing them up into a plastic tube that is marked with precise volume measurements. In order to suck the liquid up, we use an electric pipetting aid. You hold it in your hand, fit the upper end of the plastic tube into the nozzle, place the bottom of the plastic tube into the liquid, then press a button to suck up the liquid.
The electric pipetting aid
At home, we referred to these as pipet guns.
Here, the first time I said it, my coworkers looked at me like I was a mustachioed, diminutive, cowboy hat-wearing, pistol-toting cartoon character.
Lesson learned. Now, like my coworkers, I refer to it by its trademarked name or simply as a pipettor.
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