Dream 1
A gymnasium full of people getting physical examinations for the Army. Most of the test was fine. But one test scared people so much they would leave before getting examined. In particular I remember my co-worker DE was in front of me in line. He laughed uneasily and walked away through a maze of folding tables, throwing his pile of forms down and saying something about not wanting to join the Army that bad, even if people did think he was a coward.
I stood before the tester -- my friend ML. Te test that scared people was having an aluminal (???) strip about one-quarter-inch wide and two feet long stuck down your throat. The strip (of less than one millimeter thickness) would gather mucous and microorganisms which would be analyzed to determine the applicant's inner fitness.
Of course very few people were willing to have a metal strip shoved down their throat and into (and beyond?) their stomach. I myself wasn't willing. But I had to let it happen -- I wanted to be in the Army and I wanted to let people know I wasn't afraid.
ML lifted up the strip. It had a small circle for a "handle" (though it was at most one inch in diameter) and an arrow point at the end. But when it went into my throat it had no arrow point: it was just a flat-edged strip.
I was on my knees. ML stuck the strip in. At first it went down the left side of my throat and wouldn't go all the way in. ML pulled the strip out and said, "Whoops! Went down the wrong pipe!" This meant it went down my (trachea?) and not my (esophagus?).
ML inserted the strip into me again. I felt my throat sphincter resisting. I relaxed as much as I could. The strip went farther down. At some point I couldn't feel it anymore, and I wondered if we were making progress.
ML said, "Here we go. Almost finished."
I thought, Almost finished? But I barely felt a thing! I was a little disappointed that it hadn't hurt more or felt grosser, which would have augmented my sense of bravery.
No comments:
Post a Comment