Good People

 

        It's vaccine season. The vaccines we ordered arrived a couple weeks ago. We ordered more needle tips and gathered the rest of the supplies that we need. My manager printed out the forms and information sheets as well as appointment pages. The room where we give shots was clean and tidied up. We were ready. 

        We do shots by appointment to help manage our workflow and because not all the staff are certified vaccinators. It also helps us to be able to get paperwork and billing done ahead of time so that the appointment goes smoothly. Our first appointment day was last Tuesday and the schedule was full.

        I don't believe that getting a vaccine should be a painful and bad experience. I like to talk to people during the process of getting the vaccine to distract them from getting the shot. as a result I have had some pleasant experiences. I hope that they have too. 

        One of the women I vaccinated wanted to get her shots early as she was going on an overseas trip with her sister. They both like to travel and enjoy taking trips together. This year they planned to go to Italy. They were going to explore Florence and the area around there. I told her that Florence was wonderful with lots of things to see. I had been there a few years before I got married and enjoyed it a lot. I didn't want to leave.

        Her husband was working on restoring an old house, the one his wife grew up in. He told me that had he known how big a project it would be, he would have torn it down and built a new house. He's been working on it for about seven years with the occasional help of a couple of guys. He showed me a few pictures of what he was trying to do. He  thinks it might be finished sometime next year.    

        Another woman who came in for vaccines was also going overseas. She was going on a bike tour of Croatia. Some people she knew had done it before and it sounded like a lot of fun. I was in awe mostly because as much as I love biking, I'm not brave enough to do it in a foreign country on a strange bike. She told me some of the local trails she enjoyed and I shared a few of my own.

        The last customer was the best. She was a woman in her 30s with Down Syndrome. She is also deaf so her mother had to translate for me.  She asked me a few questions as I got things together. She wanted to know if I was married and had kids. I told her that while I saw married, I did not have kids. I have two cats. I must have been taking too much time to get my things ready for the three vaccines shew wanted because she gestured at me to give her the shots. One of the things I noticed was her cute manicure with alternating gold and purple nail polish. My customer is a Minnesota Viking fan. As she left she asked me again if I had kids. I had watched her mother sign the word cat and I copied the sign. Then she told me that we had something in common. Neither of us had kids. I don't know why but I was really warmed by that. I told her and her mother that it was nice to meet them.

        I gathered my things together, tidied up the room and left. I can get pretty cynical at times. Today was one of the days that reminded me that there are good people in the world.