Awesome Thing #7: Sharing a Giggle Fit

It's a slow  and uneventful tour that has been filled with mindless trips to DI (Diagnostic Imaging, aka, CT scans, Xrays and Ultrasounds <oh my>).  Mindless because most of these patients are more like clients. They need a stretcher, diesel and PR with a smile more than they need medical intervention. Some sleep, some talk on their cell phone, some will debate religion and politics with you and some. . .well, some are just a little. . ."off".

So there's you and your partner, standing in yet another hallway. You look left, you look right, you look up at the ceiling tiles, you look down and think you should polish your boots. You think about what you need to get done on your days off. You wonder if you're going to get a decent call before the end of shift, heck, you wonder if you'll get out of the hallway before the end of shift. You look at your slightly "off" patient sitting on the stretcher playing with her iPhone. Then back to your boots, check your phone, walk to the end of the hallway, look around for anyone you know, walk back and start the whole process over again. Then -

"THIS IS SUCH A HARD GAME!" exclaims your patient.

Your eyes lock on this "hard game" that has your patient leaning forward intently with her index finger whipping lines around the screen of the iPhone making zig-zag lines that demolish pieces of fruit that float across the screen.

You lean back against the wall and feel the tiny little bubbles of laughter inside your head that make you tense up the corners of your mouth to better convey to your client that you understand their frustration. But then your eyes start to water just a tiny bit and you bite your lip and drop your head to hide the grin that's spreading across your face. You would have been okay, just little more teeth-to-lip pressure and you'd be able to carry on as though this zig-zag-fruit-killing-game was the chess match of the century.

But no, you make the mistake of lifting your head and glancing at your partner. You make eye-contact and you quickly realize your mistake and close your eyes as you feel the grin once again spread across your face and the hiccup of a giggle in your throat. You open your eyes and see your partner again and you both know that you are giggling inside about the same thing.

And the thing about giggles is that they love company.

But this is not the time or place - which of course makes it all the more funny and soon you are both vibrating with stifled chortles and deep intakes of breath to try and squash the higher pitched little laughs. Finally, to put an end to the madness you surrender, turn your back on your partner and go for a little walk down the hallway to get back your serious zig-zag-fruit-killing composure, knowing that in a few hours you and your partner are going to get back into your ambulance sans patient and have a full out roar of laughter.

And that? That is AWESOME!