Screaming Infants in Denny's

There are too many screaming infants in Denny's. It is 9:11 pm, and there are at least 2 or 3 screaming infants. Shouldn't they be asleep? Shouldn't they be anywhere but here? My non-patience for children grows...

Did you know that according to insurance companies and other institutions, pregnancy is a mild systemic disease?

Time has been going by really fast today. Sometimes I can't believe that I'm 23. Certain days, I get extremely nostalgic and all of these memories of the "old days" come flooding back and I feel like I should have a rocking chair and a pair of knitting needles. I remember back to 16, when I first drank, and my friend ate lots of blue and vanilla cake and then proceeded to vomit blue vomitus into the sink. They had to use a cup to scoop it out since it wasn't draining. I remember my first kiss and my first day of college in the dorms and my last day of college in the stadium sweating and waiting for my diploma. A lot of these memories are tagged on facebook now...I just really hope the server never crashes because it seems like no one prints out real photos anymore (unless its for wall collages). I have books and books of photo albums from my grandparents and parents but I'll have nothing to contribute to my future doggies and kitties except a facebook link. If I had to pick one thing that has revolutionized my generation, it would have to be facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has changed everything. I consider it a mark of pride that Zuckerberg is from Harvard, so close to my home. Like I birthed him or something. "Mark Zuckerberg came from Massachusetts." Helll yeah.

Anyway, nostalgia. Maybe I'll go to Cracker Barrel one of these days and pirate a rocking chair. I wish I could just dig my heels in and slow it all down. When I turn 25, I'm bound to have a quarter life crisis. It's just going to happen. And 30...let's not even go there. Did you know Rihanna just turned 23? That's how old I am, and she's a millionaire...

The worst part about it all, is that older people just LOVE to tell you how terrible it is to age. "My joints always hurt now." "Myyy psoriasssisss." "I can't sleep." "Just you wait til your metabolism slows down. You won't be able to eat anything." Or today, in surgery lab..."to keep the leg in the normal flexed position, put their foot against your belly while you bandange. That part gets easier and easier as you get older, har har har." Great. Thanks for the reminder that sooner or later I'm going to become flabby, slow and sad. Misery loves company.

I apologize, this post is pretty much a hodge podge of babble.

Last realization for the night...

They say that as medical and veterinary students go through schooling, they experience a "compassion drain." They slowly go from caring to not caring over the 4 years that they spend in school. The theory is that its hard to care for other creatures when you're struggling to make it through. You subconsciously blame your patients, the focus of your work, for your current lack-o-life. For a while, I felt like I was experiencing this, and it may partly be to blame for my blooming interest in pathology (the study of disease, and dead things). It doesn't seem so bad to never deal with live animals anymore. But then today, in surgery lab, they brought in live dogs that had just been spayed for us to practice bandaging on. The dog was lying there, doped out of its mind while the tech restrained it and the instructor demonstrated the technique. I felt an overwhelming urge to touch and pet it. It's like when you walk through the mall and see clothing that you want to try on and you just can't LOOK at it. You have to feel it before you decide whether or not you want to buy it. It was just a magnetic draw. I really really really wanted to pat the dog. It was so reassuring. For a moment I remembered exactly what I was there for and the whole future came shooting into view. I am going to be a vet.

I can't wait.

Even if time is going fast and I want to dig my heels in, at least I know where its leading. Thank goodness for animals.