There are many instances of standing in line that are memorable to me. Early on things ..like scoring tickets for a concert event in prehistoric no cell phone days for wiling away the time gaming or texting or tweeting. Overwhelmed in student lines in the wood floored old gymnasium at WVU, desperately trying to find a class that would count as a math or science credit, that was actually not math or science. Trudging to the checkout to be nudged through the snakelike path of shopping carts trying to pay for treasures at Gabe’s or the equivalent of Gabe’s (a major discount store of early origins in Morgantown, WV). You get the idea.
In those child rearing days, the collapsible stroller lines at the zoo, and the most excruciating childhood/parent line experience possible-Disney World where the extra magic hours created by Disney corporates creates mayhem and blank eyed staring zombie people. Then with the second or third born, visiting nieces, nephews..doing it again. On a hot July afternoon, 7 months pregnant, I waited to get in the the Baltimore aquarium with two jubilant visiting out of town children to…stand in line to view the indigenous fish life of the Chesapeake Bay. I have also waited in line internationally: on a snowy March evening with my sister to go up the cold steel of the Eiffel tower; again ;;on the hottest day ever, so far, of my life to avoid the scams but battle thru to the Sistine Chapel in Rome; to get onto a ferry to visit a local country fair in Ireland; and, most recently, chatting with others in security line on how to get that bottle of Extra Old Mount Gay Rum from Barbados. Etc. You know the memorable lines of your life.
Two weeks ago I stood in a most sobering line. I entered the age zone where the qualifier was to be sixty. When I walked into the Health Department lobby to get my Shingles Vaccine I was startled into the reality that yes, I needed to stand in this line. Lots of baby boomers had the itchy, childhood disease of Chickenpox. If you had Chickenpox as a child, as an adult the dormant virus activated can become Shingles. This condition is very painful. Manifestations of the disease can be different, but there is misery in store for anyone who gets Shingles. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that the vaccine will prevent Shingles, but it may. Shingles is the S word among my very large family. My Mom had Shingles on her face very close to her eye, which is very dangerous, and Dad around his waist. All were helped with medication but the process was- let me say it again- painful and can leave a debilitating neuralgis in the area of outbreak. So. Check it out the vaccine with your doctor or a reliable website.
If you are sixty or over and had Chickenpox as a child the standing in the Vaccine line might be worth it.