The Woman and the Vise

Well, today is "boob-squishing" day aka mammogram day. Don't mean to be irreverent or make light of monitoring one's health, but certain procedures just need a bit of levity to get through them, at least in my opinion. Every time I think of the process, I think of my friend Beth. A couple years ago she went in for this and all was going fine until the machine that clamps you for the x-ray, stuck...while she was attached! The tech was at a total loss and said things like "this never happened before" while trying to get the machine to release poor Beth who was hanging from the vise.

After about five minutes the machine let her go. Problem was, she still had one more to go. Beth was not happy when the tech assured her that "this never happens". She just gave the tech a withering look and said "no, then what just happened?", she was not a happy camper. But she is a trooper and went ahead, luckily the machine cooperated. It was hard to contain one's self as she told us the story later that day. Everyone's reaction kept bouncing from looks of horror to laughter at the visual Beth painted! I think part of the humor is that every woman who's had a mammogram could totally relate. Sort of a gallows humor at the thought of "there but for grace go I".

Beth really couldn't laugh about it for several months (I don't blame her...ow!), but now she will mention it laughingly but only after someone's mammogram, not before! Hopefully my experience will be totally uneventful today.