Friday, April 04, 2008

Oh, you guys. Please don't read this.

So last night, I was at this class I'm taking at my old high school. It's math or science or something, I'm not really sure. See, it was the first night and while I was wandering around looking for my classroom, I ran into my old Calculus teacher.

"Hi, Jennie!" he said. I was surprised he remembered my name, mostly because he hardly ever remembered my name when I was actually in his class. I can't really blame him, though. I didn't talk much. That was the semester I took Physics and Calculus and Biology 2 at the same time and so I was pretty miserable. Anyway.

He asked what I was doing and I told him I was taking this class blah blah blah and apparently the class was some sort of medicaly type class because he was all, "oh, are you going to med school?" I thought about how unimpressive my real job is for a minute and replied, "Yes. I'm going to med school." And then he got all excited and started talking about how he always wanted to go to med school and how I'd be a great doctor, yadda yadda yadda.

OK, none of this really happened, right? Because it was a dream. Sorry if I tricked you, SUCKERS. But I have to wonder what part of my brain thinks it'd be a good idea to go to med school. I mean, it's so much work, which I try to avoid at all costs, and also I've been told you have to do stuff to corpses. Not like naughty stuff, but gross stuff. I could barely dissect an earthworm in high school without gagging. And when I took that Biology 2 class, we spent a whole quarter dissecting a fetal pig. The same fetal pig. All quarter.

This is how it went. On the first day, our teacher sat there with a big cooler full of fetal pigs and a list of our names. We stood in line and, as he handed us our pig, he crossed off our name and we took it to our seats. Then he passed out big Ziploc bags with liquid crap inside of it to keep the pigs ripe. We had to write our names on the bag, because heaven forbid you accidentally grab someone else's fetal pig. I think we might have even given our pigs names. So let's say I named my pig Wilbur, because I'm a sick and twisted human being. Every day, I'd have to go to the refrigerator in the corner of the room, pull out poor, Ziploc-bagged Wilbur, and then I'd dissect the shit out of him. You guys. It was the grossest thing I have ever been a part of. Toward the end of the quarter, the entire room reeked of fetal pig juice and WOW, you know, I haven't thought about this in YEARS. I kind of wish I wasn't thinking about it now.

I'm not sure how this post devolved into fetal pig talk. I'm sorry. But these things happen sometimes. Especially around here. Again, I apologize if I ruined your breakfast.

14 comments:

  1. Fetal pigs were the reason I took Physics II instead of Biology II.

    Maybe your subconscious brain just thinks it's a good idea to pretend to be a doctor. I could get behind that. I pretend to be getting an advanced degree all the time, and then I go watch reruns of Law and Order: Criminal Intent.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:40 AM

    I never realized how low the expectations were for people from my part of town when we were growing up until my friend and I ran into our middle school math teacher, and told her that we had master's degrees and were working for an automotive company and a university. I thought she was going to cry. She was all "The things you do are SO IMPORTANT. I am SO PROUD of you."

    So... yay for us for not getting pregnant in middle school, I guess!

    ReplyDelete
  3. mg! I think I'd be a better pretend doctor than a real doctor. I have watched a lot of doctor shows.

    srah, I'm proud of myself every day that I've made it this far without being accidentally impregnated. I think it's a real accomplishment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I took Biology II my lab partner dared me to lick the pig liver. I did it.

    Have you read STIFF by Mary Roach? You really must.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OK.

    1 - Ew.
    2 - I haven't read that. I'll add it to my books to read list.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just talking about fetal pigs takes me back to my WSU days. That smell was stuck in my head for that whole quarter and sometimes, when I think about it, I can still smell it.

    Like right now, I'm going to read this blog over and over to curb my appetite.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous11:17 AM

    Pigs, eh? Back in my day it was cats.

    The funniest thing I recall was that the first people who were called nearly universally picked the "large" cats, figuring they'd have bigger inside parts and be easier to work with.

    Being called rather late, I got a scrawny cat.

    Well, it turns out that the bigger cats are bigger because of fat. Greasy, nasty stinky fat that oozed out from the first cut and coated every organ and, well, everything.

    (Glad I could help with anyone who had recovered from your post and was contemplating breakfast.)

    P.S. It's a sign. Go buy the damn MCAT book and look it over already. Maybe you will. Maybe you won't. But a little light reading won't hurt ya.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Heidi, I'm sorry I brought up those memories.

    'mouse, ok, a cat is worse than a pig. Anyone that just read that is not eating lunch today, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Am I the only one who's kind of aroused?

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had a lab partner in 10th grade Bio and we had to name our Starfish before we cut it up. She was a very sweet/sheltered person and she picked a name at random off of our list of things to "dissect and label." Our Starfish's name: Mr. Gonad

    I didn't have the heart to tell her what that meant.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Peefer, I'm scared.

    GSR, how do you make it to 10th grade (biology, no less) without knowing what gonads are? Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I still remember the digestive system of he earthworm (my first dissection) because I made a up a dirty little rhyme about it. I failed chemistry twice. I hate science. (Except time travel.)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm gonna need to hear this rhyme.

    ReplyDelete
  14. My freshman biology teacher in high school said she had to dissect a cat in college. And she used to take hers back to her dorm room to work on it. Walked across campus. With a half-dissected cat. In a bag.

    Also, fetal pig juice sounds very thirst-quenching.

    ReplyDelete