Meningitis and Bathroom Breaks

During a quick break in Child Development I took a quick trip to the library bathroom (don't worry it gets slightly more interesting). After situating myself I discovered a pair of white velcro shoes sticking into my stall from the other....

Now I dunno about everybody else, but I wasn't expecting a pair of feet to be keeping me company whilst doing my business.

Attached to the feet and shoes were a pair of legs, simply sitting in the fetal position apparently leaning on the stall door, I ventured as low of a glance as I could without being caught, but I couldn't discover who it was....or why the heck they were sitting huddled on the moist cold bathroom floor.

Now a quick trip to the restroom was turning into a mind teaser of sorts. Should I ask her what's wrong? Maybe she's sick.. If I were curled in a ball on a public bathroom floor would I appreciate some Biznatch next door asking me questions? Do I have time to sit and listen to her life story if it is in fact an emotional problem? Should I let somebody know that there's a seemingly silent and despondent human being on the floor?

Naturally I did the easiest thing and simply left her alone. But I couldn't stop thinking about that odd near interaction. Why the hell was she on the bathroom floor in the school library!?!?!?! Maybe it's not nearly as perplexing as I find it to be.... it just seems.... odd....

Speaking of Meningitis... Apparently I haven't had my Meningitis shot and that isn't something you let leak out on a college campus. I had mentioned it to Nadia in passing at dinner and she just stared at me, "I knew a guy who went to UCLA, got Meningitis and then died a week later."

Thanks Nadia, maybe now I'll develop a neurotic tendency about catching it. I asked Cassidy what it was, and she started describing Mono symptoms and I just wasn't buying it. Nobody even knows what Meningitis is!!! All anybody tells you is "Oh you'll regret it if you don't get your Meningitis shot." or ask "They let you into school, I thought it was required."

Ok honestly if it was nearly as bad as everybody makes it out to be don't you think doctors would push for you to get the shot? Just a scad more than just mentioning in passing before shipping you off to some school "it's RECOMMENDED that you get this shot". Jeez Louise and now I'm all on edge so I called my mom and left a message informing her that everybody who knew I didn't have my Meningitis shot was threatening my life, "a shot is WAY better than dying."

She responded about an hour later, and I'm pretty sure she lied "Oh yea that one.... And hepatitis C." What she actually meant was "No you haven't had a shot in the past 3 years."

Everybody else was talking about how painful this effing Meningitis shot was, I'm thinking that if I had gotten it I would've remembered and complained for at LEAST a week later. But I have no recollection of that so I'm pretty sure that I'll drop dead in a matter of seconds after contracting Meningitis.

No but seriously in the back of my head I'm worried that now that I've talked about it so much I'll actually get it. Kinda like when you say "Oh I haven't heard *fill in the blank* in a long time" and then all of a sudden that song plays on the radio. That's kinda how I feel Meningitis will end up being for me.

Is it even that common?

Death rate extrapolations for USA for Meningitis: 849 per year, 70 per month, 16 per week, 2 per day, 0 per hour, 0 per minute, 0 per second.


Uh.... really? Who even keeps track of that....