Overheard

I know you've all been wondering where I've been the past few days because you've been on the edge of your seats waiting for my next inspiring post, and I wish I could tell you I was off doing something great like finding a cure for cancer or climbing Mount Everest. But since I'm neither a researcher nor an extreme athlete, I regret to inform you that that hasn't been the case. My apologies. As a reward for sticking with me through my hiatus, though, I've got a ridiculous story and a cute story to share. We'll start with the ridiculous--

I went with my mom to her doctor's appointment this afternoon. A mother and her teenage daughter were sitting across from me in the waiting room having a conversation about Gardasil. The first thing out of the girl's mouth was "I don't believe in vaccinations." Really? You don't believe in them? What exactly does that mean? Now I understand that people have different reasons for not getting their children vaccinated, but when you're able to eradicate a disease with a simple vaccine, I have a hard time finding too much fault with vaccines in general.

But that's not even the most ridiculous part of the conversation. She goes on to say (while talking about HPV) that "it's not like smallpox. You can't catch it from someone else." Umm...Am I missing something here? I think that's exactly how it's transmitted...and I hope someone tells her soon...

But wait there's more-- "it's only 99% effective." Since when is 99% 'only'? If someone walked up to me and told me I had a 99% chance of winning the lottery today, you better believe I'd be running driving to the nearest gas station and purchasing a ticket. If someone told me there was a 99% chance I was going to be hit by a car today, I'd make sure to put on a helmet and avoid going outside. Though if there really were a 99% chance, I'm not sure how I'd be able to avoid it. Needless to say, I think most people would trust those odds, even if our brains can't understand probability properly (argument #4).

Then she throws out this gem--"you're never 100% sure you don't have something until you know." She's right, you know. You just don't know until you know. I think that's actually the definition of the word know. (I also think that's the most times I've ever typed the word 'know' in 4 consecutive sentences before.)

And just when I thought I couldn't control my laughter anymore, mom pipes in with "one person in a million was harmed by the vaccine so I don't want you to do it." Now I know we don't understand probabilities so maybe she's got a point, and I'm not saying her daughter should get the vaccine (mostly because the disease they're talking about is sexually transmitted and I don't condone premarital sex), but  1:1,000,000 odds that something bad will happen may not be the breaking point for most decisions... (And in case you were curious, here are some other things that have one in a million chance of happening).

Needless to say, this doctor's visit was quite entertaining. I learned a lot about vaccines, probabilities, and other people's beliefs. I think I need to spend more time in public places.

I think I'll save the cute story for my next post. Gotta make you keep on coming back for more ;)