..... and tell me your story of tragedy when I am getting a flu shot!!! Of all the crazy things last week, when I popped in to an appointment to get my annual flu shot.... I get partnered with a well intentioned but young woman at the local drug store. She chats non stop and when I indicate that I have finished my chemo a month prior, she immediately delves into the sordid details of her grandfathers death and how they missed seeing his last breath. He had cancer you know and he was in agony..... why even the pain medication stopped working and we had to look into his contorted face. She grasped my hand and looked deep into my eyes... my mother was a mess.....and by the time we got to the hospital... it was too late. She squeezes my hand and then taps the back of it. I nod in an understanding manner and smile weakly. She has no idea that I just want to flee the now claustrophobic space of her office. She jambs the needle into my right shoulder, hits a small nerve, smiles and again holds my hand to continue the barrage of the post-death experience. Great... I am a captive audience for the next 10 minutes until gratefully the next patient arrives. Note to self.... next year go elsewhere.
I likely should have said something, and looking back, I just figure it wasn't worth the hurt feelings she would sustain if I did say anything. I have already experienced this a number of times where people have been incredibly insensitive towards me and behave as if I have wounded them when I point out the obvious. I just pick my battles carefully these days and have decided that it just isn't worth the effort. I just smiled thinly and left without a word. I am sure when I was her age I said some pretty dumb things too... and this is my karma - being held hostage in an uncomfortable metal chair, cornered in a suffocating little room and being blocked from the entrance by a sweet, well meaning overly chatty nurse while having my unwilling hand held gently in her grip. It could always be worse I say to myself as I scurry out to the parking lot. Karma continued as I found myself in the grips of the worse head cold mere days after the shot was administered.
Life is good and I have just started to teach my daughter how to cross-stitch her first project... it has inspired me to also create my own cross stitch project for Christmas. She is a good student and is learning through her mistakes to identify and correct them quickly.
Yesterday was our bi-annual open house at Fanshawe. While we expected a number of students to attend the extra open labs, only a few showed up. We did however, have a very busy lab filled with interested guests. We were able to show off our student's projects, which our visitors thought were pretty cool. I am pleased with this first semester roll-out of a course I developed with the wisdom of Sara as a sounding board and assistant, John, who believed in my ability, and Fred and Joel who supported us whole-heartedly. It has been amazing seeing the students immersed in their projects!!!
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