If this is the first post of mine you ever read, you should know, I HATE NEEDLES. I cannot stand getting my blood drawn. Every time I get my blood drawn, I have to look at the nearest wall until the blood is drawn. I can talk during this process, and sometimes I make faces if the needle hurts going in, but at the end of the day, I hate needles. They scare the hell out of me. And when it comes to watching blood go into the tubes–that’s one big nope! That is also not my cup of tea.
I tell you all this because as soon as I could get Walgreens to pull up COVID shots near me, I made an appointment. March 26, 2020 at 11:30am.
Needless to say, I have been nervous as hell since I made this appointment. I have not had a shot in YEARS. I have never received the flu shot; I have never gotten a pneumonia shot. The last shot I believe I got was the chickenpox shot. I know this probably needs to change because last year I got diagnosed with flu-like symptoms that came on overnight, I’m still not convinced I didn’t have COVID in the early stages when no one knew to interpret it, but I don’t know for sure. Pure speculation on my part. A couple of years before that, my Godson had the flu, and since I was super close to him ALL DAY before he received his diagnosis, I also ended up with the flu.
With this knowledge and the fact I live with two men in their sixties, I knew I had to get this shot. I had to put my big girl panties on and march up in there in my “As If” tank top and pink leggings and get this shot. I was also the weirdo dancing in line as I waited to get to the front. I thought this was going to be a LONG process. I even told two of my friends this, and as soon as I mentioned, I did not believe I’d be getting out of there anytime soon; I saw a woman come out with like five trays. I knew then they waited to get the grouping that would be there between 11-12 and did a mass vaccination of sorts.
As the people got called before me, I thought, ‘Aw shit, that’s two down. Now three. Fuck, I’m next.’ As soon as she called my name, I stood up and walked over. I put my keys and folder down with the confirmation of the first dose tucked inside of it. I closed my eyes and told her, “I’m gonna continue to talk a lot during this because it’s been a long time since I got a shot, and I hate needles.” She laughed, and I’m assuming she has heard this a ton of times since the vaccine rolled out. I told her I didn’t want to know it was coming, even though I knew it would be more like see it coming.
I say that because I felt her do the wipe on my arm; I tried to brace myself for the prick. A prick that made me think, ‘Huh, that’s not that bad.’ Even when she went in a little more, it was not that bad. And when I felt her pull it out, I said, “Wow, that’s really it?” She laughed again and said yeah and that I had to wait fifteen minutes before leaving. So I set my alarm and talked to my friends until I left and came home to eat breakfast finally. Simple enough. Now I wait until April to get my second dose. More then.
michellepatterson.net 
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