so there i was, early morning, lining in queue for my swine flu vacinne. I thought hey why not, its free. (You won't believe how tempted we are by anything fwee. we were actually enticed by the free bushfire kit. When we stay right in the heart of the CBD). And I'm going to be flying around this summer. The last thing I need is to get swine flu. Urgh.
There were posters everywhere, for every kind of ailment a college kid can get. I flopped into a cold, hard chair in the waiting room. And sat. And waited. And watched. There were plenty of kids with notes spread all across their lap, completely characteristic of revision week. I didn't feel like doing any of that though, even though I had my highlighters and reader notes in my bag, and a collection of plath's poems. (My essentiality: a book in the bag). All I wanted to do was sit and watch. Isn't that what we used to do as kids, sit and watch? Nowadays we never sit, nor watch unless there was a NEED to. Needs, scoff. These self established things that we take comfort in convincing ourselves we have to had.
This tall, gangly long 20 year old guy flops next to me. He says hi. After all this while, meeting new people all the time, and I haven't mastered the art of saying hi to a stranger. We talk. About our odds of getting swine flu if we weren't sitting there waiting for the jab. About our chances of dying in any other way anyway, as substantiated by the depressing posters everywhere.He tells me how psychology is the most important thing in today's society, and our school's large commerce faculty is too full of fools. I tell him I'm one such fool, and how psychology is too full of the pseudo and the faux. About nothing, and about some other things. I ask a stupid question about his beard. The biggest fluffiest thing I've ever seen on a tall skinny thing like him. He tells me about Movember, of guys growing out their beards to raise awareness for men's health. I ask how is a head full of facial hair supposed to do anything; to protect other men from dieseases that they deem themselves invincible from. He tells me about his gay best friend who died from Aids. There is a very long drawn awkward silence. Silence.
I have never understood how when someone close to you dies or falls seriously ill, people feel obliged to offer their condolences and sympathies, as if they were of any use at all. I've always felt it's like fixing a leaking bucket with paper glue. I don't know, maybe thats just me. I haven't figured out how to deal with this ugly thing of the people you love falling ill can do to you.
Anyway. Then it was my turn to get called in. I said bye. Bye I can say, Hi I haven't learn how to quite yet. The next day, I fall feverish because of the vacinne. The vacinne feeds you with a strain of the same disease you're looking to avoid, so that you grow immunity and not fall for it again. Giving you a faux virus, so that you don't get it the next time.
I think, too much of the faux and the pseudo. I think.
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