(no subject)
I find situations where your free will and individuality are stripped away fascinating. Not for a permanent way of life, eg I have no desire to enter a religious order or do time in prison, but as a temporary experiment to see what's there when you're no longer in charge. The Trans-Siberian railway was like that, three days in a cramped carriage with fifty strangers, no privacy, enforced idleness, time crawling by, strict but baffling rules maintained by fierce officials, and a social order to which you had no choice but to conform.
So today I'm sitting here on a hospital bed, in very similar conditions, but without the smell of pot noodles, cigarette smoke and feet. I'm on a clinical trial for some drug that I will be injected with tomorrow and next week and next month, and each dose involves a two night stay. I'm in a long ward with about 16 other people, being weighed, measured, sampled, monitored, quizzed and prodded. Most of the people here look like students, except for an older guy in the bed next to me, who is on a mission to "amuse" the weary staff. There was a bit of nervous laughter and banter when we all first arrived but now the staff are the only voices to be heard. We are all initials and numbers. Until Sunday afternoon I am LJ 071601, C09009 cohort 12.
So far this morning - forms; assigned to my bed; blood, urine, breath tests; tiny bowl of cornflakes; bag search, mobile taken away. Despite these minor unpleasantries it's quite a soothing environment; there's something so restful about watching other people busying around when you don't have to do anything at all. It's like the Big Brother house but with more needles and nurses, or a long distance flight in a weird kind of business class.
I get paid a lot for doing this but, and this is a very big but for me, there's no veggie options with the food and you have to eat everything they give you and that will include meat. Which I am really really not looking forward to. I stopped eating meat nearly 30 years ago and the thought of it turns my stomach. Maybe there'll be a way round it. On the upside: it's warm, I have all day to do whatever I like (although I told work I was working at home today so I ought to try and get something done), there's wifi and I don't have to cook. Apparantly there's tv, playstations and whatnot somewhere as well. So it's cushy if you can overlook the strange things being done to your body.
Nurses approaching with thermometers - LJ 071601 over and out.
So today I'm sitting here on a hospital bed, in very similar conditions, but without the smell of pot noodles, cigarette smoke and feet. I'm on a clinical trial for some drug that I will be injected with tomorrow and next week and next month, and each dose involves a two night stay. I'm in a long ward with about 16 other people, being weighed, measured, sampled, monitored, quizzed and prodded. Most of the people here look like students, except for an older guy in the bed next to me, who is on a mission to "amuse" the weary staff. There was a bit of nervous laughter and banter when we all first arrived but now the staff are the only voices to be heard. We are all initials and numbers. Until Sunday afternoon I am LJ 071601, C09009 cohort 12.
So far this morning - forms; assigned to my bed; blood, urine, breath tests; tiny bowl of cornflakes; bag search, mobile taken away. Despite these minor unpleasantries it's quite a soothing environment; there's something so restful about watching other people busying around when you don't have to do anything at all. It's like the Big Brother house but with more needles and nurses, or a long distance flight in a weird kind of business class.
I get paid a lot for doing this but, and this is a very big but for me, there's no veggie options with the food and you have to eat everything they give you and that will include meat. Which I am really really not looking forward to. I stopped eating meat nearly 30 years ago and the thought of it turns my stomach. Maybe there'll be a way round it. On the upside: it's warm, I have all day to do whatever I like (although I told work I was working at home today so I ought to try and get something done), there's wifi and I don't have to cook. Apparantly there's tv, playstations and whatnot somewhere as well. So it's cushy if you can overlook the strange things being done to your body.
Nurses approaching with thermometers - LJ 071601 over and out.