Goodness gracious me, is it time to talk about March already?
Okay, heads up, this is going to be a short one. Most of the notable things which occurred in March were not fun to think about, let alone write about. I’m not talking about anything which specifically happened to me, but we’re talking hate crimes, misinformation circulating online, the general state of the world, that sort of thing. But what I will do is talk about something good which happened to me in March – I got my first dose of the Covid vaccination!
If your reaction was “wait, already?”, then yeah, mine was too. I’m very lucky to have this already, and I hope nobody reads this as me gloating or anything horrid like that. My doctors simply called me up, asked if I wanted it, and I said yes, of course I do. Maybe they had spares for my area, or maybe my asthma played a part, but either way, I got my jab and I’m going to talk about it! Because these monthly blog posts also function as memoirs of a sort and I’d be remiss to skip over something as important as this. Plus, I think it’s healthy to de-mystify the experience for anyone worried about theirs.
Now, if I were writing a novel and this was something happening to a fictional character, I’d be tempted to load this part of the story up with emotional catharsis and exposition and metaphors, but the truth of the matter was that it was very easy, and very simple, at least in my experience. I turned up at the hospital an hour early, as I was paranoid about getting lost, spent around ten minutes finding the specific building, and entered – they let me in despite my timing. They asked me to sanitise my hands, confirm my name and address and other fun things, and then sent me down a maze of corridors and stairwells signposted by arrows and the occasional staff member pointing me along like Superman’s dad to Lois Lane in Man of Steel. If you think that’s a weird metaphor, it’s probably because I re-watched it a few days ago and it’s on my brain.
Anyway, towards the end of this seemingly endless maze was a gymnasium, converted of course into a vaccination facility. From the door was a line that led to the left, full of people of all ages standing 2 metres apart, fully masked and mostly unreadable in expression. Most of the hall was partially hidden from view with a temporary wall, though when inside I could see the edges were lined with doctors at tables ready to ask a series of questions: Are you allergic to, have you recently been, do you have a history of, etc etc. After that fun Q&A it was time to join a separate queue heading towards one of the three tables at the end, where a very friendly doctor was there to give me my Pfizer shot. She said it was lovely to meet me, asked me which arm I’m getting the jab in, “small scratch”, accepted my thanks and sent me on my way.
I’ll admit that I felt slightly odd walking out afterwards, but I think that was more to do with the emotional weight of the moment, knowing that the vaccine was finally in me. My arm hurt for a couple of minutes but then died down to a dull ache which was less painful than your average flu shot. They sat us in the hospital cafeteria for 15 minutes post-jab to make sure we didn’t have a reaction, and that was a surreal experience; the entire room was taken up by chairs, two metres apart but back-to-back, with perfect strangers sat in relative silence looking at their phones or at the ceiling while the time passed by. We were free to leave whenever, of course, but I’d rather have the security of knowing I wasn’t about to topple over on my walk home. I spent most of that time texting my dad, making zombie jokes, because that’s the kind of family we are.
As for side-effects, well, I left work ten minutes early that night because I could feel myself weakening and coming over slightly hot, but when I got home I slept for ten solid hours and woke up just fine, with no side-effects since. But it affects everyone differently! And then, a few days ago, I got a letter telling me about my second jab appointment in May, meaning I’ll be able to consider myself fully vaccinated two weeks later on my birthday. Hooray! I still won’t be able to do anything for it because, as far as I know, vaccinated folks can still pass it on, but it’s a nice footnote all the same.
Of course, if anyone has any questions about the vaccination, feel free to ask them, I’ll be happy to answer.
Other things I did this month include getting a new phone (the Pixel 4a), experimenting with vlogging again, re-watching the DC Extended Universe movies, realising I might be excited for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic after all, and saying farewell to my boss at work by visiting her island in Animal Crossing. That’s my fourth boss in four years, by the way. An interesting pattern!
Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next month.
Perpetually Perturbed 