I saw my doctor in December and was offered a tetanus shot. I recalled the day two summers earlier when I wrestled with a rusty livestock fence and got pretty scratched up. I responded "Yes."
It was a knee-jerk reaction due to the "rusty nail" speech I got as a kid. I later wondered if I'd made a mistake. I had gone into her office prepared to say 'No' to any offers of flu or Covid shots. Why did I so readily agree to the tetanus shot?
That childhood speech! I hope I don't regret it.
I'm retired and I still get the speech, though not as frequently. When I was in my teens, there was frequently a codicil added that I had to be especially careful of cuts and punctures received anyplace that had horses nearby; the reason for this addition was never really explained, and I was rarely anywhere that horses were kept. It struck me as a bit eccentric.
I was doing some genealogical research some years back and discovered that my grandmother's oldest brother (and presumed heir to the farm, etc, as was customary in those days) had begun to build a house for himself and his new bride, when he stepped on a rusty nail. He died - "in great pain" - of tetanus soon afterwards. While reading the entry, I actually found myself wondering if horses had something to do with it.