my encounter with amniotic fluid

thursday evening was the same as all the others. i left for work around 9:20, excited to see my co-workers and enjoy a wonderful evening at work. my mom was getting home that night from a business trip so i would see her in the morning. when i got to work i sat down in the break room and started reading the sports page as i almost always do. when eric walked in a made and attempt at a funny comment as usual and he just shook his head. as he sat down i noticed something different and so i asked him if he was okay. he said he had stuffed his face full of four hotdogs earlier in the day and he found out from his wife that they were extremely and disgustingly old. i laughed. we went and clocked in, grabbed our labcoats, and started setting everything up for the shift. a shift meeting was called just a couple minutes into our shift. this was extremely odd, being the first time i had every experienced one right as our shift started. normally we have weekly "midnight meetings" but this was a little unusual being right as we began work. jen, our manager, started the meeting by asking "does anybody know what amniotic fluid is?" she had stumpted me along with almost everyone else. deb raised her had and gave the answer and we all became a little more intelligent that day. jen explained how someone had messed up ordering the test and that the sample was missing. she was very passionate and adamant and descriptive. she explained the process of getting the amniotic fluid and the very large needle that was used and how dangerous it was for the baby and painful for the mother. i could feel my head become very light and i imagined someone sticking a huge needle in my stomach and the pain that it would cause. i was going to ask eric (who was seated in front of me) to let me sit and have him stand but i didn't want to interrupt the meeting. the next thing i remember is jen and deb on top of me asking me if i was diabetic or had some other problem and all i remember thinking is what were they doing here. i came to the realization that i had passed out. i was laying there, on the floor, in front of my co-workers. i told jen that i was okay and i started to laugh. they were all serious and asked me if they should have an ambulence come. i graciously declined their offer and said i would be alright. jen wasn't taking any chances and escorted me to the sick room. she called my mommy, who was at the airport just getting in, and had her come pick me up. she did not want me to drive home by myself after fainting. as we rode home i pulled the sympathy card out and had my mom get me an ice cream cone. i was a happy man for having just embarrased myself by fainting in front of everyone. i later found out that i had hit eric in the head and he had gone home (not because of me but because of those nasty hotdogs) and we both got out of work that evening. lets just say that that was my first, and hopefully last, encounter with amniotic fluid.