It is hard to spend extensive time in Romania and not notice the dogs. They are everywhere, no matter how hard the authorities try to get rid of them, people use them as form of civil protest: they feed them, hide them, play with them...
My good friend Michael, who fell in love with this country and decided to spend an extensive period of time in it, made the mistake to challenge the alpha-dog while being surrounded by a tail-wagging pack. In seconds he was laying on the pavement while the dogs took skin snippets out his chest, arms and legs. He manage to get on his feet and get away from them.
The subsequent tetanus shot and the rabies shot commenced within hours. While waiting in line for one of the many rabies shots Mat and I tried to humor poor Michael with jokes and bursts of laughter. What doctor is not pleased to have some positive energy in hospital hallway? Not the doctor that opened the door and reprimanded us for ... having fun. His eyebrows were touching into a line with sharp downward edges and his face expressed sincere anger. I looked inside over his shoulder, just a peek while we were leaving further away from that door and I saw this guy with a white bandage over his nose (nasty dog bite, brrrr) having a sad smile on his face seeing us gone.
Then it hit me...
What is the biggest mom dream? To have the kid come to her, with a smile on his face, and say softly: "Mom, can I have my tetanus shot now?" No more need for hours of crying before and even more after the fact, stupid tricks, fake promises...
If can be done... The amusement park where you have thrill rides where one of characters that pops out from the dark is actually a nurse that gives you that specific shot. You buy the ticket shot-specific: 4 bucks the hepatitis A shot, 5 the tetanus one. You take you place in the little car that moves slowly through the scary themes. The vampire does the hepatitis shots and the flying bloody monkey will give you the tetanus if your bar code on the hood of the car says so.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
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