Thursday, August 5, 2010

Just Call Me "Pavlov's Dog"

My lovely co-worker Elke keeps a stopwatch at her desk in the office. Every day, shortly after 2pm, its alarm goes off; attempts to deactivate it have been thus far unsuccessful. Beep, beep, beep...for a full minute. Over time, it has become customary for someone to call out "It's time!" when the alarm begins to go off. Everyone present then lies on the floor to do stomach crunches until the beeping stops. It's always funny to see the reactions of the uninitiated as we all leap from our desks and begin feverishly doing sit-ups.

So, last evening I visited the local Red Cross chapter to make my semi-monthly donation of blood platelets. After I completed the mini-physical and screening, I was walking to my donation chaise when suddenly I heard an identical series of high-pitched beeps. The phlebotomist escorting me to the chair was startled to see me drop to the floor as I very nearly began a round of crunches. Let's just say it was difficult to explain why I was about to prostrate myself on the floor of the blood bank!

See how easily trained I am?