a little sore

A student warned me about the reaction to the flu shot, apparently when he got it it knocked him on his back for the better part of a day.

I'm okay. My arm is distinctly sore but that always happens to me after flu shots.

However, there was a weird little interaction at the chain pharmacy where I went. They identify you by your birthdate. (I had been here before - I think I got my flu shot at this place last year).

Anyway, when I gave him the year (1969), he immediately looked puzzled. And then said, "Wait, you get the high-dose shot, right?" and then called over the young woman pharmacy tech - "She gets the high-dose shot, right?"

My understanding is that that is for over-65s. I'm leaning over the counter going "I'M FORTY-SEVEN!!!!!" and hoping I don't get a stronger shot than I need by mistake. (And my insurance would probably not pay for that, given my age - they pay for the regular shot, though)

Fortunately we got that sorted and I got the right shot, but:

1. I know it's been a hard week on me but I really don't think I look 65. I know with hair dye and stuff it can be hard to guess someone's age but usually when I guess a woman's age I guess lower than the actual.

2. I guess I should have expected this; I graded the cemetery-demography labs this week and in there there is a question about "what would the curve look like if you used the cohort of the 1940s births?" The CORRECT answer is "it would truncate somewhere around age 70 and many people born in the 1940s are still alive" but most of the students say, "oh, medicine has improved so you would probably see a lower drop-off but maybe the war would have some effect..."

And yeah, that's what's technically known as a "trick question" except it really isn't, so much, as a "can you think with common sense" question. Interestingly, the people who most often get it right are the non-trad students and I can only guess many of them have parents or other relatives born in or before the 1940s. (My own parents were born in the very late 1930s)

I forget that to people born recently sometimes things before 1980 look very, very long ago. I know people always act like the 1980 Mt. St. Helens eruption (which I remember being called in to watch on the tv news: my dad is a geologist) was some kind of ancient history thing.

In the right mood I can laugh about it and play along and act like I'm this very ancient person who is telling them to get off my lawn, but like I said, it's been a hard week this week.

Am contemplating skipping the "aired" Pony to go to Sherman earlier, before the annoying people are out, and catching it later on DailyMotion.

And am definitely buying myself some little treat, either taking myself out to lunch or buying some craft item I want or taking a run through the toy section at Target...