The most talked about vaccine nowadays is for Covid-19, but another vaccine going under the radar: flu shots. MJ is adding to her training as a nurse by learning how to perform flu shots with a program called Flu Fighters, an interesting exercise where she insists on performing a faux flu shot on me (without the needle). So far my guinea pig experiences (taking my heartbeat, getting flu shot) haven't been painful, but I fear one day I will wake up with some kind of imminent pain about to be imposed on my body. Hmmmm......
I've never been one who enjoyed shots. I remember as a kid they scared me, and I always looked away when the nurses did it, whether it was for the chicken pox, mumps, hepatitis, etc. Just the sharp nature of the needle made me wince and imagine the pain (I don't think the actual sensation is that bad, but the anticipation of it is what makes me nervous, kind of like waiting in line to get on a scary roller coaster or the night before having to give a big presentation or something, I overthink it). I'm not sure what compelled me to start giving blood in 2015, but I do remember the first time being scare of the needle as well but not wanting to back out and look like a wimp in front of the friendly female nurse, so I stayed even through the finger prick, and didn't look when she inserted the needle (there are definitely times I never even see the needle through the whole process, just feel it, like an unknown and unseen assailant). Perhaps my case is something nurses can learn a bit about because most nurses have seen so many people everything just seems normal to them like brushing their teeth or taking out the garbage, but for weaklings like me we have a lot of distress built up before we even see the needle because it's so different from our normal routine, so just bear with us through the anxiety and closing of our eyes.
The stock market dip definitely felt like needle pain today, Dow dipping 800+ points, Nasdaq dipping almost 600 points and almost 5% in a day. That's.....a lot of money for a lot of people. There's solace in the fact I participated in the stock run-up over the last few months and still solidly in the black, but it's never fun on days like today because you always think about where you were just yesterday and if you could have gotten out at the perfect time, which is almost never going to happen of course but the market definitely does punish greed pretty swiftly, slamming a huge losing day on your hands like a piano cover on your fingers, with the discordant music and everything.
Luckily there's not a big controversy over flu shots in the US like there is with treatments against Covid-19 and mask-wearing, but MJ is currently ambivalent about getting the Covid vaccine if and when it is available to the public, due to concerns about vaccines/ immunizations and how they affect one's health, or pregnant women's health (should she at some point become pregnant). There are a group of anti-vacc-ers out there with concerns like mistrust of science or whether it causes autism, something MJ is already worried about for our potential child. I personally got a flu shot once and I actually got kind of sick afterwards, although getting mild headaches/ symptoms afterwards is common. I just.....don't get sick, so maybe our potential child will be able to inherit that part of me and never get sick? Let's hope so.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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