"Do you need me to hold your hand boo?"

This week I am participating in training all week at an off-site location (an especially safe neighborhood in SE DC :). Back when I interned in DC in 2005, a classmate once told me if I ever ventured to the southeast quadrant of DC, I would get shot. Fast forward four years of my life, and here I am, spending at least 50% of my time at work in the southeast quadrant. But hey, I am still around, and getting very accustomed to my second home.

Today the local fire and police department joined forces to provide community members an opportunity to get vaccinated for the H1N1 influenza where I was attending my training. With as many youth and families I interact with on a daily basis, I thought it would be a good idea for me to get the shot. I joined a few of my colleagues and headed upstairs to face the needle. After hearing the story about the NFL cheerleader who now experiences a neurological condition brought on by a flu shot, I was a little nervous to go through with the shot. As I walked up to the large man who would soon administer the vaccine, I started to chicken out. My co-worker proceeds to ask, "Do you need me to hold your hand boo?" I put on a strong front and looked away from the needle, only to find out he was all done. And there you have it. No swine flu for me. Go get vaccinated!!!