Your Weekly Whoomp

Sorry about the silence. There’s really been nothing to whoomp about.
Yeah, I lead a boring life. The last exciting thing that happened to me was getting hit by a Ford EXP. Might hafta do that again so I’ll have something exciting to whoomp about. …Just kidding.
The accident DID effect, noticeably, the way I drive, also reflected in my new motto. Ready to hear my new motto? Here it is…STOPPING ON RED IS MANDATORY. GOING ON GREEN IS OPTIONAL, NO MATTER WHAT THE JERK DRIVING THE CAR BEHIND YOU THINKS.
Yeah, I sit at the intersection until I know that all crossing traffic is going to stop. i.e. “Take nothing for granite!”
Anyway, Susan and I are enrolled in another CPR course. Believe it or not, the last one was 2 two years ago. I consider it mandatory training, and I think she feels the same way. I have trouble imagining the helpless feeling some people have felt, watching someone die, and not knowing what to do, wishing they had the training, hoping someone trained will come along in time.
Yeah, there’s more to it. Once I have the training, I feel it’s mandatory to use it if I am in a position to. CPR training tells you that you have a choice, that whether you use the training is completely up to you. I have to “dis” that part of the instruction. I feel that knowing what to do in an emergency situation requires me to use it. Argue with me if you want. It’s a feeling, maybe not logical.
But there’s more to it than that! CPR is emotionally exhausting. I don’t know if I can express the feeling, but, when you’re performing CPR, you are trying to save someone’s life, constantly aware that success or failure is completely in your hands, and that your success or failure may determine the patient’s future, or lack of one.
And, as you already know, I’ve had to use it 2 1/2 times.
Anyway, the class is the 23rd of this month (That’s a Friday.)
Lately, I’ve been thinking about pain, and my attitude toward it. I don’t like it and avoid it at all cost, but it’s my best friend, as in, if it hurts, don’t do it.
Russ, my oldest son, learned that early.
He was about 2 years old, standing on a stool, watching Dad make pancakes. I kept backing him away from the stove, with the admonition, “Get away from the frying pan, you’ll burn your nose!” Suddenly, the pancakes needed turning over, right away, and I backed Russ away from the frying pan one more time and turned around to get a spatula. As soon as my back was turned, Russ screamed! In a matter of minutes he had a blister on the tip of his nose! That was the first and only time I ever saw a cute blister. Yeah, it extended the length of his nose about 1/4 of an inch! Healed quickly, though, but, to this day, he has never gotten his nose that close to a frying pan again, hot or cold, unless, of course, his wife has gotten a frying pan that close to his nose. Lesson learned.
That’s about it for this time. Write soon, huh?