Friday, March 27, 2009

Learning from Perhaps Unusual Sources

Okay, something fun for Friday ... tell me, what's something valuable you've learned from an unusual source?

Here's two of mine:
When I get standard anesthesia, the sedative wears off before the paralytic. In that post, I referenced telling an anesthesiologist about it, and him explaining it all to me. But The Husband reminded me -- a few days before my emergency appendectomy, we had watched an episode of ER where a character had a similar (but more dramatic) experience. So when I was in the ER, I mentioned the episode and explained what had happened to me. He corroborated what I thought, made adjustments, and I had no problems that time. So, see kids, you really can learn from TV!

Second: my sister and I used to live in the same town and were avid garage-salers. Well, we were at one sale, and there was this big, hairy guy wearing a wifebeater, sitting in a folding chair. He looked at one of my sister's exposed arms and asked, "Psoriasis?" She was surprised, because usually she gets "Oooh, what's that?" or "What happened?" or wary looks. She confirmed his suspicion. He then proceeded to tell her about his sister who had bad psoriasis, until she began taking flax seed oil every day. This guy was an evangelist for the flax seed. My sister began taking flax seed. Not only did it have a dramatic affect on the psoriasis, she sailed through menopause, barely realizing it was happening.

Fast forward to last weekend. A friend of mine was having hot flashes about twice an hour. She was miserable. I mentioned the flax seed oil. The next day, she was Heysanna-Hosanna-ing me. Apparently she went out right away, got some, and had maybe two mild hot flashes in 24 hours.

All cuz of a big sweaty guy in a wifebeater. Angels come in all sizes.

11 comments:

Lilylou said...

I love your posts, LE! This one's last sentence, particularly. Love it!

ogre said...

I have never been into angels, at all (I break out in hives; unicorns tend to do the same thing). But the idea of a burly, hairy angel in a wifebeater is really appealing.

I need an artist...

(Come to think of it, my brother could fit that image, were he so dressed, and he's been a saving angel for a number of people...)

Ok, and this one needs to be coupled with the parable of the sower for full effect, given the rest of the story.

Anonymous said...

Well, I just learned what a wifebeater is when the word is used in reference to clothing. ;-)

plaidshoes said...

How interesting - especially about the flax seed oil. My daughter suffers from all sorts of skin issues, I wonder if that would help!

I wish I had some intersting advice given to me, but I can't think of any! Maybe I just don't listen enough ;-) to hear it....

Christine Robinson said...

Just what sort of thing is a "wifebeater?" pray tell?

Lizard Eater said...

A sleeveless tshirt, like a muscle shirt or a t-shirt.

Chalicechick said...

Imagine Stanley Kowalski, from "Streetcar Named Desire." That shirt he's wearing is a wifebeater and I've always assumed the term come from the association with him.

There was a parody song called "I love Nascar" playing on the country stations like fours years ago and I carried on a long conversation with a Nascar fan once based solely on what was mentioned in the song and the opinions the song expressed.

CC

Anonymous said...

I find the term "wifebeater" disturbing, and I cannot imagine why anyone with even a tiny bit of ethical sense would use it.

I thought I might follow your blog, some of it is interesting to me. But I find this REALLY offensive.

Lizard Eater said...

@Anonymous -- Fair enough! It's not a term I often use, but, at least in my part of the country, it is a common term for a type of shirt. I chose it deliberately because for many people, that coinage brings to mind a certain type of person. And yet, he was a gentle, nurturing soul. An angel.

It is quite probable that I will use many types of offensive terms and I always welcome the discussion they engender. But this blog is no way will take pains to avoid offending others.

Robin Edgar said...

"But this blog is no way will take pains to avoid offending others."

Unless of course they are UUA Presidential candidates or other U*U clergy. . .

I understood perfectly your deliberate use of the term "wifebeater" in this blog post, and agree with your response to Anonymous, but it is quite hypocritical in light of the pains that you quite obviously will take to avoid offending UUA Prtesidential candidates.

Interestingly enough the WVC for this comment is 'staffed'

Lizard Eater said...

Robin, it's not about not wanting to offend the candidates. It is about not ascribing motives to why the candidates made certain choices.