A Short Story About Setting an Example, and About a Joke That Went Nowhere

By Bloggerfather @bloggerfather
My 5-year-old got a shot, and he acted like it was the worst thing that could have happened to a human being. Considering any event a teachable moment, I tried to show him I was brave, and took him and his sister to Rite Aid, so they could see me get a flu shot with a smile.
When I reached the pharmacy, I was told the whole neighborhood was out. No Rite Aid, no CVS, and not even a doctor's office. There were no flu shots in North West Baltimore.
So the next day I went with my kids to a Rite Aid in Owings Mills, which is about 30 minutes drive from Baltimore.
The pharmacist at this branch greeted me by the door, and when I proudly told her I was there to get a flu shot, she told me the whole city was out.
"The whole city???"
"Actually, the suppliers are out."
Now, I've watched 24 on Netflix almost every night for a year, and knew exactly what it meant when the suppliers were out of a vaccine: terrorists were attacking us with a dirty bomb. And you know how you sometimes think about whether or not you should say something, and then the voice of reason wins and you end up just walking away? Well, my voice of reason always loses.
"You know," I said, "if this were an episode of 24, my nose would have started bleeding now, and then you'd see a clock!"
"Oh, is that so."



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