H1N1:Part 2 (Timeliness Used To Mean Something To Me)

Two months ago when Beck and I got our H1N1 vaccines I was extremely impressed to record the events of that day.  The day it itself was entertaining but also seemed like something I'd want to have recorded in a few decades when popular conversation has returned to "that thing that happened in 2009."  Surprise of all surprises, time has gotten away from me and nothing has been written.  Being a new year, of course, I'm re-motivated to do more writing and am having a stubborn thought that I can't move on in life until I have the H1N1 thing behind me.  Forgive me for what promises to be far less entertaining and far more note-like than what I should have written when it happened.  And come back soon-I'm always good for interesting thoughts at the beginning of a new year!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009


8:15AM  Ben's out of town so Beck and I are hanging out in bed listening to a KSL news report about the Utah County Health Department giving free vaccines today starting at 9:00.  Thoughts come to mind of recent news reports showing thousands of people standing outside for hours, but something about this report makes the idea sound somehow not crazy to me.  It's only 20 minutes away and surely on a weekday there won't be as many people free.  We make the final decision to go get our poke in the arm, jump up from under the covers, and head out the door.  Good omen: the forecasted snow storm has not yet appeared.

8:30AM  In the car and backing out the driveway.  I didn't grab anything to take with us.  We stop at a McDonalds drive-through and grab some breakfast.

9:00AM  (If you're bored already, skip to the end and see that this ordeal ends nearly 6 hours later)  We get to the County Health Building and end up parking four blocks away.  Beck is in a great mood laughing and running in front of me.  That is, until he trips about a block from the car and hits his head on the sidewalk.  Now he's crying and screaming and I'm carrying him the rest of the way.  It's a little cold, but not to bad.

9:10AM  We get our spot in line.  There are masses of people winding their way through the parking garage.  A LOT of people!  Muttered questions and responses would seem to indicate it's going to be about a 2-hour wait, but I have no reference point for how long it should reasonably take to get this many people moved through a line.

The family behind me is looking for someone that is supposed to already be here and somewhere in line.  Turns out later that he took his time and gets there way after they did.  The mom is beautiful, blonde, and well-dressed.  She's got five kids with her aged infant to teenager.  The kids all look a bit scroungier than she does.  When dad shows up I'm confused-in a wife-beater, scraggly long hair, and ripped jeans I can't fathom she and he go together.  The dad doesn't stay around all day.  The family fights with each other the whole time we're there, and I never did see them take their infant out of her carseat.

10:00AM  An hour has gone by and it hasn't been too bad.  We've moved past the open part of the parking garage and are protected a little from the wind and snow that has started falling.  The sheriff's in charge of crowd control have no information about what's going on and I haven't seen any health department workers with any information.  I think I see my friend Jayna a few rows over and wonder what time she got here to be that far ahead in line.

10:15AM  The family in front of me has a really bitter wife/mother.  Her husband has been walking around and discovered that the line winds down a garage level, back up, then back down again, before going up and into the Health Building.  They didn't know this was going to take so long and he has to go to work.  She's furious with him.  I really hope I never behave like she is, but am afraid maybe I do.  They make arrangements for her to call him back when we get to a certain point in line.

10:45AM  Beck is still being pretty good.  We've hardly moved half a garage level.  The forms we need to fill out are circulating, but the only ones left are written in Spanish.

11:45AM  We've made it to the bottom of the parking garage and that turns out to be great!  Beck can run and play in a semi-contained space so he can't get away.  A lady further up in line brought her portable dvd player and dozens of kids are following her from concrete pillar to concrete pillar like the pied piper.

The lady in front of me is actually pretty nice.  She has two girls in pajamas and an infant.  I've been helping move her stroller while she nurses and takes the girls to the bathroom.  Beck keeps calling her girls, "Sister."  The couple in front of her is uber-concerned that she'll lose her place in line.  I keep reassuring them I'll move her stroller while she's gone.

12:15PM  The line has moved back up a level.  We're on the inside row now so Beck can run between the parking sections.  He's having fun racing with all his new friends.  They're getting frustrated playing Tag with him.  He has no idea he's supposed to chase them when they say, "You're it," and they have no idea that he has no idea what they're doing.  I can't help laughing.

Beck is getting really really dirty.  When else will a parking garage ever be his playground?

It's getting really cold standing here.  I keep trying to remember it could be worse-we could be in a line winding down the street in the snow.

The woman in front of me has called her husband because we've reached the agreed upon location.  Then she realized we still have to wind down and back up a level before we get to the end.

The family in front of us has been sharing cookies and crackers with us.  I can't believe I left the house with absolutely nothing.  I came without food, drinks, toys, diapers, or warm clothes.  Not smart for a lot of reasons, and then add my morning sickness on top of it.

12:30PM  People are starting to give up, drop out of line, and leave.  I'm pondering at what point you decide you've waited too long to give up now.

The lady's husband has gotten back and now he's the bitter angry one.  We still have at least an hour wait in front of us.  He's uptight about letting the girls run and play.  I try to help out by bringing the girls back with me when I go to move Beck forward a parking section, but they don't listen to me.  The husband cannot believe his wife is trusting me, a complete stranger, to watch his kids.

12:45PM  The couple that has been sharing food with us has a messenger arrive from McDonald's.  Bags of hamburgers or cheeseburgers and they just pass them out to everyone standing around them!  Best burger I've ever eaten!  Leaves me reflective for awhile wondering how I can repay them by passing their kind gesture forward someday soon.

Two different health department workers have finally appeared. One passing out numbers and one counting people in line.  Neither one of them has any better idea how long the wait will be, but they do say the line was cut off at 11:00, there are 5000 vaccines available, and anyone in line right now will get one.  English forms have finally surfaced, too.  One form per person, I'm really glad we're only two people.

1:30PM  We are FINALLY inside the County Health Building!  I run to the bathroom and almost miss my turn.  The line is moving much faster now.

1:45PM  Beck and I get registered really quickly.  The family in front of me is causing way too much stress and being really annoying at their station.  Glad I got in a different end line than them.

I've been preparing Beck for a poke in the arm, but it turns out he can have the nasal spray.  He's crying just because he was completely surprised and had no idea what was happening.  I just found out they can only give him a half-dose so he has to have another one a month from now.  That would have been nice to know beforehand.  There's no way I'm going through this again.

I get my shot and the nurse makes a comment about how dirty the kids are that have been coming in.  Like she has absolutely no idea they've been playing in dirt and oil spills all day.  Beck's nose is starting to run.  He'll probably get a cold because I wanted to protect him from getting the flu.  Great.

2:15PM  We walk back to the car and head for home.  The bank temperature sign is reading 28 degrees.

4:15AM  Beck threw up in my bed.  I don't think it's from the vaccine, but it's definitely not making me very happy.  By morning he's sporting a full-on cold.

One Month Later  The H1N1 vaccine is becoming much more widely available and the health department is making appointments for shots now.  It took us about 5 mins to get Beck's second dose.  Cases of H1N1 are way down now, but I'm not letting myself think about whether or not it was worth it.   Our neighbor boy and all of Don and Angie's family have had it and survived it.  Who knows...who knows.