Monday, August 18, 2008

Fortunate coincidence

I decided to relax a little reading at the bookstore after work, so when I left I ran into my co-worker Allen, who was heading back from the gym. He was cheerfully teasing me about being pre-med, asking for advice about his sore wrist, when suddenly he collapsed to the sidewalk clutching his calf, spasming in a painful charley horse. After my own experience waking up with a similar cramp a couple weeks ago, I completely sympathized with the grimace on his face.

Therefore, for the next ten minutes, I was kneeling next to Allen, pushing his toes backward to force him to flex his foot and stretch the cramping muscle, the only thing I've ever found to help me ease the pain. We kept pushing even through strange looks from pedestrians passing by (fortunately, some of them were friends who stopped with offers to help) and a couple phone calls from a friend who was coming to stay with Allen for the night ("If you look up the street, I'm the guy on the ground!") Eventually, the cramp eased enough for Allen to slowly get up, ease his flip-flop back on, and hobble down another block to his apartment.

Bet that he's glad to have pre-med friends now =P

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