- Mar 8, 2003
- 38,416
- 4
- 0
Disclaimer: This thread is actually just me complaining about my experience at the county's health clinic while seeking the vaccination and my laptop breaking. I do not actually believe that the vaccine is dangerous. I am still able to walk and run forward without a problem (Day 2). Cliff notes provided at the end of this post.
Well, my P.I. (principal investigator) allowed me out of the lab for a few days (yay, Christmas), so I decided to take care of a few things. One of those things was the vaccination stated in the title of this thread. I did not feel like standing in line at the university for 3 hours in the hopes of getting the last injection (like my P.I. did) the day it was offered, so I delayed the injection. So, yesterday I head to Walgreens to receive my vaccination in a semi-acceptable environment. Unfortunately, they were so busy that they did not have time to shoot me up (and they did not have any available to snort). I then made a fatal error.... I went to the county's health clinic since it was known that it was available there.
The county's health clinic is a semi-free clinic maintained by the local government. By "semi-free" I mean that they only charge you if you have money for vaccinations, pregnancy tests, etc. This place is only a step up from a thin-walled college campus clinic where one can hear all of the delightful descriptions of STDs from the young ladies to health workers. Here, they are very young single mothers, people with nowhere else to go or those seeking various vaccinations. I have received seasonal flu vaccinations there in the past, where they charge me about ~$20. Previously, I was in and out in less than 10 minutes, long enough for them to swab, stick and bandage me. They even had a separate waiting area for people seeking the seasonal flu vaccine. I have witnessed mildly disgusting and disturbing things there in the past, but never anything to totally drive me from there, not when it is so conveniently located.
I entered and the main waiting room was surprisingly sparse. So, I thought that I had dropped by on a good day. It all started while I was waiting in line to speak with the receptionist to fill out the paperwork. To my left, through the glass door near the examination rooms, I see a line of little children with their mothers all seated on the floor along the wall. I thought that was a little out of place, considering there were so many seats in the waiting room, but I soon realized that this was for our protection.
Soon, one of the munchkins pushed open the glass door. I turned to see the commotion, as the child was screaming. It was not the scream of a child about to be injected, but that of pure malevolence. I watched as the child placed both of his arms together with palms open (as if he was about to push a large object) and he ran as fast as he could towards the line I was standing in. I stepped back, but thankfully I was not his target and it happened so quickly that the true target did not have time to fully react. He collided into the man standing in line in front of me. He (the man standing in line) turned at the critical moment to avoid having a charged palm strike to the nads. He yelled "HEY" at the top of his lungs as the 4ish year old kicked him in the leg (as hard as he could) before turning to me. I had taken a step back when I thought he was going to run between us (he instead was charging the guy in front of me), but I was not quick enough to avoid him grabbing my arm (he was within reaching distance by now). Even my left arm, as lacking of muscle as it is, is still able to overpower the hands of a child and I drew it out of his reach moments before his mouth of pointy baby teeth was about to sink into my flesh. The reaction prevented me from being bit, but he did manage to spit and drool all over my hand. At this point, I yelled "TAKE IT EASY" or something to that effect in the hopes his mother would intervene. She was nowhere to be found. The kid then tried to kick me (like he did to the guy in front of me), but I was ready and he only struck the base of my shoe. Frustrated that I successfully thwarted his attack, the child punched me (in a non-sensitive area) and ran out the door of the clinic, screaming. At this point, his mother came out from behind the glass door and witnessed him exiting the clinic and running towards the highway outside.
A lady in line sarcastically asked both of us (myself and the guy standing in line in front of me) if the kid belonged to one of us and we both replied with a HELL NO. I finished the paperwork and sat down (the shot was tax-payer provided, unlike the seasonal flu-vaccine, so no insurance paperwork, which lightened the paperwork a bit). Unfortunately, no separate waiting area for those seeking the vaccinations that day
I was seated on the right side of the waiting room, as was the initial target. The woman returned with the problem child, having apprehended him before he made it to the busy road, and sat down on the left side. There was a sizable gap between both sides of the waiting room. The mother was content to let the child run around in circles in the center of the room making noises (he was not being THAT loud at this point and he was not attacking anyone). He spotted the guy I was in line with and an evil smile appeared on the child's face. He started to run towards him (or possibly me as we were both in the same general direction). I yelled "GO AWAY" at him and his mother called to him. He aborted the potential attack and returned to running around the waiting room. The mother said nothing to me or the other guy, we did not say anything to her.
Thankfully, it did not take long for the nurse to call my number and I went in and received the vaccination. Painless enough and I walked quickly out of the building. I rubbed hand-sanitizer all over the areas where the drool landed on me once I returned to the car. I do not like dogs slavering all over my hand and arm, much less other people's kids. I considered a self-inflicted vasectomy.
So, later that night... I thought I would give one of the games a go that I bought on steam during the sale, but the curse of the H1N1 was not finished yet, my laptop failed (as described here):
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2036931
The calm and safety of the lab beckons
CLIFF NOTES:
1. Two people (including myself) waiting in line to receive the H1N1 vaccine were attacked by a 4-year old brat. The other guy was kicked in the leg and rammed. I was spit on and drooled over in my successful dodging of a bite attempt. But, I did receive a punch and a kick.
2. My laptop's GPU failed
Well, my P.I. (principal investigator) allowed me out of the lab for a few days (yay, Christmas), so I decided to take care of a few things. One of those things was the vaccination stated in the title of this thread. I did not feel like standing in line at the university for 3 hours in the hopes of getting the last injection (like my P.I. did) the day it was offered, so I delayed the injection. So, yesterday I head to Walgreens to receive my vaccination in a semi-acceptable environment. Unfortunately, they were so busy that they did not have time to shoot me up (and they did not have any available to snort). I then made a fatal error.... I went to the county's health clinic since it was known that it was available there.
The county's health clinic is a semi-free clinic maintained by the local government. By "semi-free" I mean that they only charge you if you have money for vaccinations, pregnancy tests, etc. This place is only a step up from a thin-walled college campus clinic where one can hear all of the delightful descriptions of STDs from the young ladies to health workers. Here, they are very young single mothers, people with nowhere else to go or those seeking various vaccinations. I have received seasonal flu vaccinations there in the past, where they charge me about ~$20. Previously, I was in and out in less than 10 minutes, long enough for them to swab, stick and bandage me. They even had a separate waiting area for people seeking the seasonal flu vaccine. I have witnessed mildly disgusting and disturbing things there in the past, but never anything to totally drive me from there, not when it is so conveniently located.
I entered and the main waiting room was surprisingly sparse. So, I thought that I had dropped by on a good day. It all started while I was waiting in line to speak with the receptionist to fill out the paperwork. To my left, through the glass door near the examination rooms, I see a line of little children with their mothers all seated on the floor along the wall. I thought that was a little out of place, considering there were so many seats in the waiting room, but I soon realized that this was for our protection.
Soon, one of the munchkins pushed open the glass door. I turned to see the commotion, as the child was screaming. It was not the scream of a child about to be injected, but that of pure malevolence. I watched as the child placed both of his arms together with palms open (as if he was about to push a large object) and he ran as fast as he could towards the line I was standing in. I stepped back, but thankfully I was not his target and it happened so quickly that the true target did not have time to fully react. He collided into the man standing in line in front of me. He (the man standing in line) turned at the critical moment to avoid having a charged palm strike to the nads. He yelled "HEY" at the top of his lungs as the 4ish year old kicked him in the leg (as hard as he could) before turning to me. I had taken a step back when I thought he was going to run between us (he instead was charging the guy in front of me), but I was not quick enough to avoid him grabbing my arm (he was within reaching distance by now). Even my left arm, as lacking of muscle as it is, is still able to overpower the hands of a child and I drew it out of his reach moments before his mouth of pointy baby teeth was about to sink into my flesh. The reaction prevented me from being bit, but he did manage to spit and drool all over my hand. At this point, I yelled "TAKE IT EASY" or something to that effect in the hopes his mother would intervene. She was nowhere to be found. The kid then tried to kick me (like he did to the guy in front of me), but I was ready and he only struck the base of my shoe. Frustrated that I successfully thwarted his attack, the child punched me (in a non-sensitive area) and ran out the door of the clinic, screaming. At this point, his mother came out from behind the glass door and witnessed him exiting the clinic and running towards the highway outside.
A lady in line sarcastically asked both of us (myself and the guy standing in line in front of me) if the kid belonged to one of us and we both replied with a HELL NO. I finished the paperwork and sat down (the shot was tax-payer provided, unlike the seasonal flu-vaccine, so no insurance paperwork, which lightened the paperwork a bit). Unfortunately, no separate waiting area for those seeking the vaccinations that day
I was seated on the right side of the waiting room, as was the initial target. The woman returned with the problem child, having apprehended him before he made it to the busy road, and sat down on the left side. There was a sizable gap between both sides of the waiting room. The mother was content to let the child run around in circles in the center of the room making noises (he was not being THAT loud at this point and he was not attacking anyone). He spotted the guy I was in line with and an evil smile appeared on the child's face. He started to run towards him (or possibly me as we were both in the same general direction). I yelled "GO AWAY" at him and his mother called to him. He aborted the potential attack and returned to running around the waiting room. The mother said nothing to me or the other guy, we did not say anything to her.
Thankfully, it did not take long for the nurse to call my number and I went in and received the vaccination. Painless enough and I walked quickly out of the building. I rubbed hand-sanitizer all over the areas where the drool landed on me once I returned to the car. I do not like dogs slavering all over my hand and arm, much less other people's kids. I considered a self-inflicted vasectomy.
So, later that night... I thought I would give one of the games a go that I bought on steam during the sale, but the curse of the H1N1 was not finished yet, my laptop failed (as described here):
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2036931
The calm and safety of the lab beckons
CLIFF NOTES:
1. Two people (including myself) waiting in line to receive the H1N1 vaccine were attacked by a 4-year old brat. The other guy was kicked in the leg and rammed. I was spit on and drooled over in my successful dodging of a bite attempt. But, I did receive a punch and a kick.
2. My laptop's GPU failed
Facebook
Twitter