She didn't like it stiff and other nasty tales from today
"Huwag ninyong tigasan, sir. Sir!"
So said the hapless nurse as she steadied the injection needle over my arm today as she prepared to take a syringe of my elixir blood as part of the medical examination I needed to take before I started in BusinessWorld (BW).
What a day. Situated in the dreary heart of EDSA-Cubao, I took my medical exam at Standard Medical and Diagnostic Center, the clinic BW accredited to administer medical exams for their employees. They could've accredited St. Luke's for crying out loud (BW is just situated on Balete Drive! Practically next door). Anywhere but the godforsaken place that is Standard Medical.
The place was bursting with job applicants also having their medical exams at Standard Medical. I was like, "who had the grand idea of having ALL of you take this medical exam all at the same time, this Monday morning?!" I signed the logbook and was the only one from BW among 50+ people or so from some company I didn't bother to read. They were all very noisy, and therefore, annoying.
So the blood test first. I'm sorry, but it's my arm reflex action (defense mechanism?) to stiffen whenever something sharp approaches. Hence the slight difficulty the nurse had in jabbing me with the needle. I don't like injections much, so I just relaxed like she told me to, just to get it over with, and watched the syringe fill with bright-red blood. Mmmmm.
The x-ray dude downstairs was having a difficult time as he couldn't locate one of the patient's x-rays due for pickup. And he was manning the x-ray machine all by himself. It was stressful, really. This delayed several people, including me. I almost felt sorry for him, sweating in his scrubs while shuffling in between the exposure room and the reception area. He was unfailingly polite though and didn't let the haggardness show on his face or actions. Good job.
And then the waiting room. GOOD GOD. To fully appreciate the horror I endured earlier today, I would like to describe the confines of the waiting room. A worn-out bench was positioned along the narrow, dark, dingy hallway no more than two feet in width. A single noisy electric fan provided ventilation for more than 20 people crammed in the said space. And beside the waiting area was a common toilet.
To further illustrate, thirty sweaty people were going in and out of the toilet taking their stool exams, conveniently located beside the cramped waiting area. One after the other, non-stop. And the potpourri-like aroma their, um, by-products offered was simply astounding, penetrating nasal cavity in ways I never knew possible. Mind-blowing. The least Standard Medical could have done was to provide an air spray, or at the very goddamned least, a box of matches, but no. We were left to our own fricking devices.
(If you're wondering how I managed, I took my stool exam at home and brought the little container with me, tightly wrapped in paper and masking tape. The thought of pooping in a public toilet with twenty people outside makes me shudder)
I then proceeded to line up for the physical exam before I realized that the doctor-in-charge wasn't going to be around until after 1 p.m., so reminiscent of Diliman enrollment. It was only 11:45 a.m. So I had a quick lunch at McDonald's before promptly returning around 1:30 p.m.
The unsmiling doctor noticed how my employer was different from the 50+ people or so she administered the physical exam to. "Saan ito?" she inquired. "Sa Balete Drive, New Manila po," I responded. Not everyone knows where BW is, after all.
Color-blindness test, blood pressure (110/70), then the actual vision test. Dammit, I'm going blind, I had to take it twice because I could no longer see the last row of numbers even if the numbers were just an arm's length away from me. Like that algebra exam in grade school, I was practically guessing the digits dancing in front of my corneas and probably making a fool of the good doctor as she promptly noted, "needs corrective lenses." I'm having my eyes refracted next month.
Damn, I'm this close to actually working. Shudder.
So said the hapless nurse as she steadied the injection needle over my arm today as she prepared to take a syringe of my elixir blood as part of the medical examination I needed to take before I started in BusinessWorld (BW).
What a day. Situated in the dreary heart of EDSA-Cubao, I took my medical exam at Standard Medical and Diagnostic Center, the clinic BW accredited to administer medical exams for their employees. They could've accredited St. Luke's for crying out loud (BW is just situated on Balete Drive! Practically next door). Anywhere but the godforsaken place that is Standard Medical.
The place was bursting with job applicants also having their medical exams at Standard Medical. I was like, "who had the grand idea of having ALL of you take this medical exam all at the same time, this Monday morning?!" I signed the logbook and was the only one from BW among 50+ people or so from some company I didn't bother to read. They were all very noisy, and therefore, annoying.
So the blood test first. I'm sorry, but it's my arm reflex action (defense mechanism?) to stiffen whenever something sharp approaches. Hence the slight difficulty the nurse had in jabbing me with the needle. I don't like injections much, so I just relaxed like she told me to, just to get it over with, and watched the syringe fill with bright-red blood. Mmmmm.
The x-ray dude downstairs was having a difficult time as he couldn't locate one of the patient's x-rays due for pickup. And he was manning the x-ray machine all by himself. It was stressful, really. This delayed several people, including me. I almost felt sorry for him, sweating in his scrubs while shuffling in between the exposure room and the reception area. He was unfailingly polite though and didn't let the haggardness show on his face or actions. Good job.
And then the waiting room. GOOD GOD. To fully appreciate the horror I endured earlier today, I would like to describe the confines of the waiting room. A worn-out bench was positioned along the narrow, dark, dingy hallway no more than two feet in width. A single noisy electric fan provided ventilation for more than 20 people crammed in the said space. And beside the waiting area was a common toilet.
To further illustrate, thirty sweaty people were going in and out of the toilet taking their stool exams, conveniently located beside the cramped waiting area. One after the other, non-stop. And the potpourri-like aroma their, um, by-products offered was simply astounding, penetrating nasal cavity in ways I never knew possible. Mind-blowing. The least Standard Medical could have done was to provide an air spray, or at the very goddamned least, a box of matches, but no. We were left to our own fricking devices.
(If you're wondering how I managed, I took my stool exam at home and brought the little container with me, tightly wrapped in paper and masking tape. The thought of pooping in a public toilet with twenty people outside makes me shudder)
I then proceeded to line up for the physical exam before I realized that the doctor-in-charge wasn't going to be around until after 1 p.m., so reminiscent of Diliman enrollment. It was only 11:45 a.m. So I had a quick lunch at McDonald's before promptly returning around 1:30 p.m.
The unsmiling doctor noticed how my employer was different from the 50+ people or so she administered the physical exam to. "Saan ito?" she inquired. "Sa Balete Drive, New Manila po," I responded. Not everyone knows where BW is, after all.
Color-blindness test, blood pressure (110/70), then the actual vision test. Dammit, I'm going blind, I had to take it twice because I could no longer see the last row of numbers even if the numbers were just an arm's length away from me. Like that algebra exam in grade school, I was practically guessing the digits dancing in front of my corneas and probably making a fool of the good doctor as she promptly noted, "needs corrective lenses." I'm having my eyes refracted next month.
Damn, I'm this close to actually working. Shudder.