I was watching one of the more informative channels the other day - like Discovery or TLC or something, and one of those "What Should You Do" kind of shows came on. In case you've never sat through one, they show emergency situations and how you can survive them. So I watched this guy get hijacked and make it through by calmly talking the hijacker out of it, and then... Actually I left the room before he escaped. But the point is that he did. But I came back for the lovely story of a patriotic wound.

This lady was decorating a friend's Christmas tree or something, and she felt a prick on her finger. No big deal. She woke up the next morning, there's a white head on it. Gross, still no big deal. The next day, it's red and blue, and it's starting to spread up her arm. Guess she figured she'd sleep on it. The next day she woke up, and the red, white, and blue wound was no longer patriotic, it was black. And shrively. (Like that word, shrively? Think I just made it up.) Plus, she can't move her fingers. It's black, shriveled, the red has spead even to the side of her abdomen. So she finally says "fine, I guess I'll go see the doctor." It turned out to be a patriotic spider bite.

Here's what I don't get. How the heck did she get on this show? She didn't react in some amazing manner. She waited like, over 3 days to see the doctor when I'd have been in the ER the night it was white. But I guess it's all about drama. That and getting to show a really nasty wound on tv. Yaaay ratings!