VACCINE: Then and now

As I waited in line for my first COVID-19 vaccine shot, I couldn’t help remembering back to the 1950s when we as kids lined up to get our school shots.

I was TERRIFIED then! Shots were given in the basement of the Kootenai County Courthouse. The line was from the front of the building on the east side, going around to the north door, then down the stairs and to the left.

While standing in line, inching forward outside, we went by the open basement windows of the room where the shots were given. The distinct smell of alcohol and the screams of kids getting the shots caused most of the kids in line to start crying, including me. By the time we got to the room, we were screaming ourselves, trying to pull away from our parents just knowing we were going to die.

As I was crying in anticipation of the pain I was about to endure, the nurse said, “Now that wasn’t that bad, was it?” WHAT, I did not feel a thing, except for the grip my Mom had on my arm trying to hold me still.

That memory the other day while waiting in line brought a smile to my face instead of tears to my eyes. I am glad I did not smell alcohol or hear the seniors screaming as I probably would have needed my wife to hold me down. Just think, in those days the needles were sharpened, sterilized and reused! Remember?

ROBERT LOWE

Rathdrum