... I was on a crowded 4:53 LSE train and was subjected to a conversation between two women where one described her C-Section in graphic, gory, bloody detail?
There weren't any seats left for me to move. I hate standing. I loathe it. But I tried as hard as I could to hold out as I didn't want to get up and give up my seat...
Let me tell you something about me and blood. We don't hang out. We don't play on the monkey bars or share milkshakes at the corner deli. We don't skip through daisies or talk about boys... So I don't handle stories involving blood very well and every year in high school, when it came time to discuss the female reproductive system during physical education at my all-girls high school, I would always be the one who would pass out. In fact, by grade 12, girls were taking bets on me how long I'd last and if I'd make it to the cervix.
Thing is, I have a kid. I had a C-Section myself. I don't care to know how it happened or what was done. I'm fine with the end-result.
Anyhow, this woman is talking, and talking, and talking... I'm growing more clammy by the second. Finally, I leaned over, and just as I was about to ask the woman to stop, to say that I have a weak stomach, I passed out. Just like that. Rolled right out of my seat onto the floor.
Thankfully, no one pushed the emergency strip. (I didn't want to be *that* person - the "medical situation").
I came to a few seconds later, surrounded by several people who were helping me breathe, etc.
I even managed a strangled, "Don't press the strip" when someone suggested it.
Several people offered me whatever food they had on hand, from jelly beans to granola bars, believing I had suffered low blood sugar.
The two women got off the train at Whitby never giving me the chance to tell them why I really fainted.
So, last week, when I found myself seated beside another pair of women also discussing C-Sections, I got up and moved.
Thinking about an earlier post this morning, I'm not about to dictate to anyone what they can and can't talk about on the train. I do think that we owe it to our fellow passengers to be mindful about what we're talking about.
Some things truly are off-limits. Like blood and moving livers and slicing spleens. Don't you think? Dear God, tell me I'm not alone.
12 comments:
Frankly, I find the whole birth thing rather creepy - and anything involving general surgury makes me a bit squeamish (I find out a while ago that some eye operations can now be done with a local anesthetic - but they will never be done to my eyes...)
What do you do when you start bleeding if blood makes you faint?
When I have cut myself, I do get weak. It's not as bad as dealing with someone else's blood where I get extremely squeamish.
How do you manage to have all of these experiences?
My train seems to boring now... thankfully.
Years of commuting?
Overly observant?
A magnet for trouble?
discussing a movie and discussing your bloody c-section are 2 different things. I so would have told them that the entire train does not wish to hear the gory details and to please STFU.
but hey, thats me :)
holy Moses, that's awful. Take the hint ladies, like honestly who wants to overhead about someone's bloody gash. The miracle of childbirth is wonderful and all but some things don't need to be discussed in public among the masses. On transit. Yick.
Lindsay
Yeah I would definitely have passed out. Having a conversation like this is fine in the comfort of your own home but not in public and certainly not on a train where you can't run away!
You said there werent any seats leaft, and that youi were standing, how could you roll out of your seat if you were standing?
I apologize for the confusion. I was seating but didn't want to move and give up my seat. It meant standing and I hate standing.
I figured thats what you meant,
Sorry to hear about the situation.
Hope your okay otherwise.
I would be the exact same way. I get weak when people dicuss medical things. I am not even any better when the doctor was discussing my surgery with me. I had my husband listen and read the material for me.
I sympathise, I once sat across from a lady who described her knee surgery in all it's bloody gory details.. I was feeling woozy by the end of the ride. Always remembered to bring my ipod after that!
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