In mid-May, 2020, when the Covid-19 hype was at its height in my neck of the woods, I had a little incident in my local Tractor Supply store. It was a lovely spring day, and I had been out running errands and doing things with my mom for most of the morning. Around mid afternoon, I went to Tractor Supply, to purchase some rebar stakes I needed to put up fencing around my garden beds. I headed out into their outside areas the store where the fencing and pallets of other rugged items were stored. I was loading the rebar stakes into my cart, when my stupid handbag swung down off my shoulder, and annoyed, I shrugged my arm up and out to hoist it back in my shoulder. When I did, I SMACKED the top of my right hand, HARD into a spool of barbed wire just to my right. My reward was a lovely puncture wound on the on the top of my hand, that hurt like a #@$@&!! So there I stood, clutching my hand, and before it started bleeding, I was able to look right into the wound and see how deep it was. Then it swelled up like an egg, started bleeding, and I thought, uh, I really should wash this off because you know.. CORONAVIRUS. And then, Ugh, What if it bleeds all over my arm? What do I do now? I didn’t even have any tissues in my bag.
**Interestingly, at no point, did I consider just leaving the store. I’m not sure why. All I know is that I was there to buy the stakes, and at no point did it even enter my mind to just WALK OUT. Odd, I know.**
So I grabbed my cart and started wheeling it inside so I could pay and leave as quickly as possible. By then the blood was congealing into a big blob on the top of my hand. I shook my hand and it spattered off onto the cement. I pulled my sleeve down over my hand, figuring that the inside of my sleeve was probably pretty clean, and thinking it would also keep me from getting blood on anything else. I pictured blood running down my arm, so I held my hand up, and wheeled the cart with the other hand. Of course, when I got inside, there was a ridiculously long line, which I joined, and then realized that I was starting to feel a little... off. Have you ever passed out before? It starts with a little bit of a woozy feeling... a kind of hot/cold/sweaty/weak feeling. I was thinking of not passing out, but still dwelling on the GERM factor. Could I get Covid from a cut on my hand? Are these people going to FREAK OUT if they see my hand is bleeding? I needed air. Would they freak out if I took my mask off? I unhooked my mask from one ear and let it hang while I fanned my face. I clutched onto each unit of shelving as the line moved forward, periodically balancing my arm on the shoulder height shelves but being careful NOT to look at my cut because I didn’t want it to freak me out. What if it was really bleeding a lot? I started to worry, what happens when I put this damn mask back on my face? I got up to the counter, hooked my mask back on my other ear, and immediately started to feel shitty. I thought, ok, I’ll just tough it out, but then the cashier started debating the price, calling over to another cashier across the way, and I thought to myself, ‘uh oh, I’m going down.’
The next thing I knew, I was feeling the cold cement of the floor on my cheek, and then there were a bunch of people around me asking me if I was alright. Was I diabetic, did I have high blood pressure, etc, etc.? No to all of the above, but yes, it was possible that I didn’t drink enough water that morning. I was so afraid that people would be afraid of me if I took my mask off, so I kept apologizing for that, but instead of being angry with me, they were so sympathetic. The ladies who worked there got me water, and asked me of I needed any food. Was I allergic to anything? No? They gave me a candy, but it was a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, and they kept asking me questions and it seemed that my tongue and throat were still somewhat asleep, so I couldn’t talk and eat at the same time. They told me they were calling an ambulance, and I said, “Oh no, I really think it was because I worked myself up, and also because of the mask...” meaning, once I was worked up, the mask just made it worse.
When the EMT showed up, all I remember were her big, black boots. I was still sitting on the floor, and she came over and stood in front of me and asked me if I WANTED to go to the hospital, and I said no, I didn’t think it was necessary. She clearly didn’t want to take me to the hospital, either. She didn’t examine me, or ask me nearly as many questions as the cashiers did. She said, “You might want to get a tetanus shot,” and I agreed that that was a good idea, and that I would get one, and then she left. The cashiers asked me if I wanted them to call someone for me, and I said yes, please call my husband. I definitely didn’t think I should drive home. They stayed with me, they checked on me, they told me to stop apologizing, it was ok, they were happy to help - it was no problem. I was overwhelmed by their kindness. So while the puncture wound was less than pleasant, their kindness toward me made a lasting impression. Thank you again, Tractor Supply ladies. You were awesome!
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