Don't Listen To Him, He's Lying.

 I had a random memory I wanted to share. It all began one winter, I think 2013, when my mate and I decided to check out snowboarding lessons at Mt. Spokane. The first time we went, we rented the gear but after that we purchased our own helmets, gloves, jackets, etc. And looked mighty fine. Our classes consisted of 'training' how to get on the snowboard, which foot is your lead foot, how to ride the chair, etc. But then they would turn us loose after the class.

That's where the fun begins. It was the 2nd class I believe, that we had done, and we would go up the mountain (the bunny hill) and fall on our butts. My mate had snowboarded before so she caught on prett quick. I however, was really struggling. 

At one point, suddenly I fell while halfway down the mountain, and twisted my neck in a painful way. I needed to ice it. I could've just used the snow, come to think of it, instead of walking to the emergency hut down at the bottom of the hill to ask for an ice pack. When they heard "hurt my neck" they sounded the fucking alarm.

 

They said they couldn't let me leave without the paramedics taking a look at me. I told them I was fine, I just needed ice and they said sorry, this is protocol when someone injures their neck. So we waited for the paramedics who immediately tried to say I had to go to the hospital. My neck didn't hurt that bad. It was maybe a 4 on the pain scale. Nothing serious. But they kept trying to convince me I had to go to the hospital. My mate kept telling me we are NOT going to the hospital no matter what. You are fine, and it's too expensive.

At some point though, they made her wait elsewhere while the paramedics looked at my neck, and then one of them tells me they talked to my mate and she had finally said yes, she'd follow me behind the ambulance.

When I heard that I thought, oh, she thinks I should go now, well ok if SHE says so. (He had told a bold faced lie). I get strapped in to this neck brace thing on a gurney and put into the back of the ambulance. We drove off, the hospital being about a 40 minute drive. There was a little screw that was put behind the back of my head to secure me so I wouldn't move, and every time we went over a bump or one of Spokane's many potholes my head would slam into that screw. It was painful. THAT is what hurt me the most.

So finally at the hospital they take X-Rays and everything is fine, the doctor just says I have Spondylosis, which is what I had already self-diagnosed myself with months earlier. He recommended ice and heat and tylenol. Jesus H.

So even after insurance, that bill came and it was upwards of $2000. I was so dismayed, and my mate was FURIOUS with me for believing the lie that the EMT told me about going to the hospital.

We finally paid it off years later, but still to this day I am angry with myself for having listened to the lies of someone that was not in my situation (broke/poor) and didn't heed the advice of the person that knew me best. I guess I was naive. 

Long story short, if you feel fine, don't let an EMT tell you that your significant other says you need to go to the hospital. Chances are, she never fucking said that.