Friday, October 4, 2013

Ricky, you have some mansplainin' to do...

It was my senior year of college.  I had taken a fall down a flight of stairs, and had some pretty severe bruising on the inside of my left arm, and a ladder of less-severe bruises down my back.  Hurt like a mother, but nothing terribly serious.  However, within a few days I'd developed some hard lumps in the bruise on my arm--calcium deposits.

I took myself off to the campus health center, and the doctor happened to be in.  (He was usually available for a couple of hours, two or three days a week; the rest of the time the nurse was available.  And generally more helpful.)  I sat on the table, rolled up my sleeve, and explained that I was concerned by what I felt--

"Don't worry.  It's not cancer."

--which I was pretty certain was a series of marble-sized calcium deposits, and what was the best course of action to take to ensure I didn't pass them through my urethra.

"Oh.  Oh.  Well, warm, damp compresses should help with that."

Gee, thanks.  I'm so glad you were able to ease my fears about cancer of the bruise.  What color ribbons does that have again?  I'm sure I saw it on a rubber bracelet somewhere.

If you don't know what mansplaining is or aren't aware how commonplace it is for women to be on the receiving end of it (from whatever gender), I recommend checking out this link.

2 comments:

  1. Loved the mansplaining page. I'm married to a male engineer, so I get bucket loads of mansplainin' on everything. It's like the degree in engineering somehow gives him a clearer understanding of everything in the world, from titanium alloys to Congressional gridlock and how to do the grocery shopping he almost never does. I feel privileged.

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  2. Bummer, I can't access the link from work. But I have a good idea what you're talking about. My husband has NO degrees but that doesn't stop him from thinking he knows everything about everything. It can get tiresome. And that's on a good day!

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