I’ve never enjoyed tests. I mean, thanks to my being a mediocre student my performance on the SAT and then the LSAT allowed me to get into better schools than on grades alone, but it’s not like I enjoyed taking them. And, I definitely did not enjoy the feeling of waiting for the results for weeks after.
And let’s not even get started on the Bar Exam (I passed on the first try thankfully), or my Liver Biopsy (turns out nothing was wrong, whoop!). But you know what test came in third place for the most anxiety inducing? The pre-travel PCR test for international travel. I mean, 1 Q-tip tickling my brain stood in between me and Africa. Get a negative result and I get to enjoy the trip of a lifetime. Positive result and a slink back to work after a 14 day quarantine. (Actually given we’re still not back in the office, guess I go straight to work!)
So on October 26, 2021 I find myself at an Urgent Care affiliated with a major hospital. 8am appointment for a rapid PCR test. By lunch, I’d know if I was vacation bound. For some weird reason the Urgent Care required me to have a consult with the provider on duty (I wasn’t really paying attention as this was just a total waste of time) before a nurse came in and made sure she got DNA by poking my brain just enough to see whether I had a nervous system response. $195US later…I was out the door and the anxious wait began.
Got home. Joined MyChart for the Urgent Care. Hit refresh on Test Results every 5 minutes for the next 2 hours. And it appeared. I had a result! Did I dare click on it? What if I had tested positive? 2.5 years of anticipation came down to this one moment. I didn’t want to know. But I needed to know. So I clicked. And I was Covid negative.
I was off to Africa.
The Kahn Man 