This is another story about parental (especially mother) "Scare Tactics". As much as I hated the cold, during the peak of winter we would many times run outside without a coat and our mother would sternly say, "Don't go outside without a coat or you'll get sick!" When we (mostly me) would be totally oblivious to her stern command and warning, she would then very convincingly exclaim, "I'm going to call Dr. B. (our local doctor) and tell him to sharpen up his needles"! That ALWAYS caused me to stop dead in my tracks and run in the house and don at least a sweater or two and the thickest coat and hat I could find in the bottom of the closet! Perhaps the GREATEST fear and dread for me as a kid (other than possibly the "Children's Home"), was to "get a shot" from the Doctor! Whenever I was sick and the Doctor would make a "housecall" (good grief, I am getting old aren't I), and I carefully and very nervously and very prayerfully watched the Doctor as he reached in his big black "Doctor Bag" and pull out a stethoscope, the relief was overwheming! Then I would go through the whole ordeal of several emotions (none of which were good) again each time he put his hand in the big black "Doctor Bag"! I had to wonder, "How many times could I tempt fate and push my luck...? If I had a sore throat or whatever, and if my worse fears had gone unfulfilled, he would put his hand in the bag and come out with a bottle of big green pills! AHHHHH, penicillin PILLS. I had dodged yet another "TERRORIZING BULLET"! However, it seemed like more often than not, my worse fears would be realized when the Dr. would reach into his bag and despite my fears, prayers, opinions, and revolt, he would pull out that dreaded vial of LIQUID pennicillin! Since I've ALWAYS had a fear of needles (I could never become a "mainline" drug addict since there's no way I could even give MYSELF a shot)! Even as a very young kid, It took AT LEAST 2 other full-sized adults to hold me down EVERY time I got a "shot"! (NOW it takes AT LEAST 5 full-sized adults to hold me down)! I'm about 6' 2" and you'd be surprized at what adrenalin can accomplish even in my slender body build! HA!, at least I made all of them work hard for the satisfaction of causing me so much fear and pain! I'm convinced that one main reason God created adrenalin was to punish all those nasty medical people who put me through all that! In later years, while inquiring about Navy bootcamp before being "shipped out", I questioned a number of guys who had "been there", and they all said that they have this new "gizmo" that uses compressed air and not needles for all your shots! ALLLLLRRIGHHHHT, I mused, that was great! During the start of Navy Bootcamp, while standing in line for "shots" (they sure gave a lot of them), I did indeed see the chrome "air guns" just as I had heard! WOW! They didn't lie about the Navy after all! (I would soon see this belief and MANY others quickly vanish)! They had mastered the art of giving several shots in both arms at the same time as we were all MOVING in line! We were then "instructed" (actually YELLED at, while having the marital status of our parents questioned), to proceed to the next "station" for our "A" shots. No problem, I thought, as I smugly rushed along the line with my new found "macho" attitude! We were then YELLED at again (actually, this was constant throughout all bootcamp), while having the status of our mothers questioned this time, to stand on the yellow "footprints" and BEND OVER and grab our ankles! It reminded me of getting paddled in school, but I knew that couldn't be now, since for ANY even minor infraction they made you do pushups while using profanity that only Navy Drill Instructors had ever mastered! Hmmmm, I was getting suspicious. This was an odd way to give the last shot, since all the others had been in the arm with that painless "air gun". Oh well, this certainly wasn't the FIRST time the Navy did easy and ordinary things in an odd and hard way, and it certainly wasn't the LAST time I saw this either! The Navy Corpsman (who I'm SURE was related to Hitler, JOYOUSLY went down the multi-tiered line yelling at all of us to not look ANYWHERE but straight down at the "deck" (floor for you landlubbers). Those who would dare to even THINK of "moving thier eyeball" even a FRACTION of an inch, then had their OWN moral character questioned! WARNING! THE FOLLOWING IS A MILITARYTOP SECRET that has heretofore been locked in the furthest recesses of my brain UNTIL NOW! (PSST... I did move both my eyeballs a "fraction of an inch" to see that the guys in front of me were getting a SHOT with a NEEDLE that looked to me, the approximate size and length of Zorro's sword! I have MANY times since that moment, thanked God for His wondrous creation of "anti"- adrenalin! I, at that particular time, served my Country with a stillness with gallantry, courage, and bravery in the face of the "enemy" above and beyond the call of duty! (At least this once during my Navy "Daze")!
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