Some things should not be taken lightly

[plural]

So
I had to go
get a inoculation shot
at the local hospital

which I might add
was a most peculiar place

it took me a while to
figure out where i needed to go
and of course I had to play
the usual shell game

go to place A
tell them I need an inoculation
they send me to place B
place B listens to what I need
write a slip and sends me back to place A
to pay for it
I pay for it at place A and
return to place B for the shot

i suppose it was so bad
as things go,
but why could I have not just
paid for it at place A the first time around
then gone to place B to receive the shot.

So once all the nonsense
is said and done
I am sitting on those delightful exam tables
that hospitals are so fond of

the nurse pulls out a large something
that resembled a tackle box
from the fridge

opens it
and removes what i hesitate to call a needle
it was huge
somewhat unkempt
and utterly diabolical

now, I do not know if I have mentioned this
but
i greatly dislike needles
i can handle them but
we will never be friends
i will not invite them over for barbecues
nor birthdays

i give them my reserved
civility
and nothing more

but this was going too far
if a needle is clean
inoffensive and exists
in accordance with common standards
of decency, i have no problems with their
right to exist

but this needle
was a renegade
a brutish thing deserving my discrimination

of course
the nurse didn't speak english
and my spanish is inadequate to properly
communicate my absolute fear and loathing
which i feel towards this needle

so there was no easing of my fears
it seemed like an eternity
staring at it gruesome and enlarged form
while
she took out a small package and
worked at the counter with her
back turned to me

i considered fleeing
and other options for preserving my life
but my paralysis was too great

the nurse finally turned around

with a small smile on her face
i could only assume
it was out of pure malice
until i saw
in her hands
a proper specimen
a much smaller
and
much more appropriate
member of that group of objects
which we call
needles

Is it just me
or is a sense of humor
not exactly a desirable trait
in
a medical practitioner