This one time, I was nursing on nights in a Rural ED. TDW-Mark I and our little family were living “Up North” in a small town, outside of a little town outside of a middling sized town that served as the commercial center for that corner of the state. Our small town, let’s call it “Boiling City”, had a bar, a short distance from our no-stop-light town center, and their claim to fame was serving as the region’s titty bar. We locals called it “The Boiling City Ballet”, as a snide reference to the exotic dancers that were it’s main draw.
At this point, I had something like a 15 years of nursing experience, as an ED nurse, ICU nurse, nursing supervisor, all on top of my years on EMS in Da City. I was kind of proud of my “been there- done that” self image.
Remember that thought. As well as the ancient aphorism that “pride goeth before a fall”.
So, TINS©, TIWFDASL©, and registration let me know that there was a patient with a knee injury. I meandered up front, collected the chart, summoned the patient, and invited her to join me in the back. I asked her what had prompted her visit to ER.
“Well, I was doing a pole trick, and landed wrong, and fucked up my knee.”
I goggled at her. “Uh, what?”
She giggled. “I was dancing, I did a pole trick, I landed wrong, and my knee gave out on me!”
BTDT fail on my part. “Uh, what is a ‘pole trick’?”
She filled that gap in my life experience. “I dance at the Roadhouse, out side of Boiling City.”
Ahhh! The formal name for the “Boiling City Ballet”!
“And?” I prompted.
“So, a pole trick is where I do something on the pole, like spin around, and this time I just landed with my foot placed wrong, and my knee started to hurt!”
“Uh, OK. Here, here’s a gown, and I’d get the doc so we can get you examined and x-rayed and everything.”
She was having fun with my norminess. “So, you **DO** know what I do for a living, right?”
“Uh, kind of…”
“So, why do I need a gown? I’ll just whip my pants off, right here and now, just like this…”
I backed out of the room, and shut the door. “No, that’s alright! Just put on the gown, and I’ll get the doc…”
Musings of A Stretcher Ape 
I am picturing you blushing at that point. It has happened to me. Ya think we have seen and heard everything to see,hear and something pops out that show we are a normal human…
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Yep. “Pride goeth before a fall”.
THUD!
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