and things went downhill from there

I got shot in the arm yesterday, and I had a bandage to prove it at the time, but it apparently fell off during the night. They said I was very brave about it, and told me that if I walked down to the end of the hall, there was a room full of other people who had been shot, and I could sit around with them and enjoy some free coffee.

They lied; there was no coffee.

Normally I wait until they are offering flu shots in my office, but I have a hunch they might not be doing it this year. The past couple of years they have made noises about not offering them any more, and when they finally did offer them, it was very late into the start of flu season. The reason I suspect they might not be doing them this year is because there are far more places available to get free shots than there were when they first started offering them in the office.

At one point, you had to book an appointment and pay a nominal fee to get a shot, but when the province offered free public flu shot clinics during the H1N1 scare a couple of years ago, they were surprised by the public response, and had trouble keeping up with demand. Ever since then, they have set up public clinics around the province for three days after the vaccine becomes available, offering free shots to anyone who shows up. After those three days, they make them available to many of the pharmacies in town under the same "show up and roll up your sleeve" policy.

I knew that the clinics were happening sometime soon, and I had been toying with the idea of just hitting up a public clinic rather than throwing the dice over whether or not they would make them available at work. I took a vacation day yesterday with a short list of chores I wanted to finish, one of which was to fill the tank in the Volkswagen. I had the CBC tuned in on the radio as I was driving up there, and they mentioned that it was the final day for the free flu clinics.

I hate needles. I don't think I can stress enough how much I hate them. Still, I knew it was either now or later to get the shot. My thinking was that if I was going to get stabbed anyway, I should go to one of the public clinics staffed by nurses who have a lot of experience in giving painless injections. I cursed berated myself all the way to the clinic, and somehow managed to coax myself through the door and into the waiting area. My thinking was that once I was given a number and seated, it was too late to chicken out.

As much as I hate needles, I also hate being a public spectacle. Running out, flapping my arms and screaming would probably be a spectacle, so I steeled my resolve and went through with it.

And now my arm hurts today, but I have nobody to blame but myself. And the nurse. And the needle.