ChrisAnna Mink is a pediatrician at the St. John’s Well Child and Family Center and Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, where she focuses on health care for children in underserved communities. Before participating in the Zócalo/The California Wellness Foundation event, “How Do You Fix a ‘Bad’ Neighborhood?” she talked in the Zócalo green room about what she liked most about the neighborhood she grew up in and why she doesn’t do karaoke.
What word or phrase do you use most often?
Hakuna matata. [Laughs.] Sadly.
What’s hanging on your living room walls?
Some glass fish. Some funky square art blocks. And a 3-D puzzle of St. Basil’s Cathedral. My son was born in Russia, and he’s really into Russian things.
What’s the last habit you tried to kick?
Being a slug, but I don’t really want to give it up.
What did you love most about the neighborhood you grew up in?
I grew up in a small town in Zanesville, Ohio, and looking back, my favorite thing about it was that everybody belonged to everybody. So if I got into trouble, my grandma knew before I got home, which also meant that I was safe.
What are you keeping in your garage that you should have thrown out already?
I have my research papers from 1994. I can’t throw them away.
If you could have any superpower, which would you chose and why?
My son and I have actually had this discussion. He wants to fly. I don’t want to fly. I think if I have any superpower, it would be to be kind all the time. It would help.
Who taught you how to ride a bicycle?
My grandpa, and he is the cutest man on the planet.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
Interestingly, it’s while I am trying to fall asleep at bedtime. I do a little download every day, and somehow I find solutions to something that’s been bothering me.
What dessert can you not resist?
Hot fudge sundaes. That’s an easy one.
What song are you most likely to choose at karaoke?
I don’t do karaoke very much to protect those around me. When I do sing with everybody, I’m most likely to choose a Disney tune. Those are the ones I’m most likely to know the words from.