Said in Lawrence of Arabia and Prometheus.

On Friday, I had a minor medical procedure…which itself I didn’t really mind much. But it was the pain that increased afterwards…that I minded.

Normally, I am the type that will deal with the pain. I bear it with gritted teeth. Sometimes thinking that this is reality, after all. Pain is the burden of being human—that we are tied to our bodies.

This time though on Friday as I was writhing on my bed from the pain…I thought aloud, “Ok I will take the doctor prescribed pain medication. Yes, please.”

So I shuffled to Walgreens, barely 2 blocks away. At the pharmacy, I recognized the woman who had mangled my photo order a few weeks earlier—somehow wasting more than 10 minutes trying to find my single print when it turned out to be in front of her. Why was she at the cashier?! But I could barely see through the fog of numbing pain. Just give it to me.

Fifteen minutes, I downed it. An hour later, I regretted it. Instead of pain, I was overcome by nausea and could not keep anything down. This kind of state continued for another 8 hours as I forced myself through the regular tasks of the day.

Nausea? I would take pain any day.