she starts going on about typhoid pills and some medical travel clinic i will go to. then she adds "you need to update your tetanus shot". i am watching the cosby show at this point and immediately flash back to my last tetanus shot.
it was 6 years ago and i had 4 shots that day. out of all of them tetanus hurt the most.
hands down. my arm was useless for days. it hurt on all shot accounts - the poke, injecting the medicine and soreness afterward. at this point i am not happy that i have to get another. i say "mom, i already got that one. pretty sure that shot never expires. plus i don't plan on running around barefoot in any dirt cities and stepping on nails." my mom: "you don't know that." i laugh and say fine.
in my mind i think "oh well, i won't have to get that shot till august. now lets get back to see if bill remembers claire's birthday..." out of the corner of my eye i see my mom unwrapping something. whatever. then i hear my mom say "ok, roll up your sleeve and give me your arm."
the next thing i know i am watching MY MOM FLICKING A NEEDLE AND MEDICINE SPURTING OUT OF IT! just like the in the fake horror films! i didn't even know that could happen in real life!!! my mind could not compute what i was seeing! and i immediately flip. i tell her to stop and wait, i didn't realize it what happening this week, this night, this very moment! i start to plead and do that half laugh half cry thing. she shushes me and starts to reach for my right arm.
i scream and say "don't!" my mom looks up at me behind her glasses and tells me i am right. phew!!!.....
"lets do the left arm because you are right handed. and this hurts like none other so lets not do the arm you write with. this is the worst shot in the world!!!" (ok so i added to what she really said, but its still true.)
all this happened in under a minute. can you say blind sighted? it was a total shock. as of right now, my arm totally aches three days after the unexpected jab into my arm. and i LOATH tetanus shots even more. jerusalem better be worth it. i am very bitter right now but this is very typical of my mom. she never tells stefi and i when we are getting shots until the day of. its so we don't freak out all month leading up to it. instead we freak right before it happens. (and yes my mom still does this and yes, stefi and i are both in college. ha ha don't judge) its a very clever/dirty mom trick.
and the only good thing about this is:
i got a hello kitty band aid and i plan on running around in dirty old cities all i want.
