I was stationed at Fort Ben Harrison from 1987-1991. For my last 3 years, I was the NCOIC(Non-Commissioned Officer-in-charge) of the laboratory. I met and worked with many outstanding people during my tenure there.
There is this one occasion that I recall was extremely amusing. On this particular day, we were VERY BUSY in the lab’s blood drawing room, so I was helping out. A member of the ER staff, we’ll call him Tom, escorted a patient in, accompanied by an MP. The patient was handcuffed so I assumed he was in the MP’s custody.
They had lab slips requesting a drug screen, and a send out test for us. I didn’t skip a beat, and asked the patient to have a seat. I remember he had a big afro, a tie-dyed shirt, and a really dark tan. The handcuffs were removed as I prepared the phlebotomy equipment. I cleaned his arm, applied the tourniquet, and was just about to stick him.
When I looked up, I recognized the patient at the VERY LAST SECOND! He was Tom’s roommate, and the entire scenario was a SET-UP!!! I was initially a bit irritated because we were so busy. But within seconds, we were ALL laughing uncontrollably.
Submitted by:
Joseph Trompeter
Department Supervisor
Arizona, USA
Just chill bro 🤪