Yesterday morning I was running errands. I’d had my flu shot the evening before, had a rough night and woke up at my usual weekend time, so I showered and decided to get my errands over with. Because of the effects of the flu shot I was fading and wanted to get home quickly and relax. My last stop was the post office. I wanted to get some U.S. mail boxes to send my son in college a care package.
As I selected my boxes, I heard someone yelling “Good morning!” really loudly. I was tired and distracted, but after the fifth “Good morning” it slowly dawned on me that the person was yelling at me. I looked up and noticed that a postal worker had come up to the counter. He was looking at me and yelling “Good morning.” I said “good morning” and he said something about the boxes, then handed me a stack of labels saying it would be easier if I fill these out at home. He was very friendly but he yelled everything he said.
I said thank you and turned to leave. As my hand hit the door to go outside, an incredible pain shot through the left side of my body, from my collar bone to the bottom of my rib cage. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe without pain. I opened the door to what I thought was my car (when I pulled into the parking lot initially there was another car which looked like mine). It actually was my car, but in my panic and pain I didn’t recognize my steering wheel (?!) and thought I was entering someone else’s car. I had to walk around to look at my license plate and confirm it was mine.
I sat in the car for ten minutes to clear my head, hoping the pain would go away. I didn’t want to pass out on the way home and kill someone. But the pain was still there and I wasn’t disoriented, so I drove the short distance home, considering all the while that I should go to the emergency room.
I got home and unloaded the bags from the car. As I moved around, the pain started to subside. After five minutes at home, the pain was gone completely and I was fine, except for the effects of the shot. I spent most of the day on the couch napping, reading, watching some TV.
This happened right after my encounter with the employee. But it wasn’t a jolt or a shock or a jump scare or anything when I heard his voice – it was more of a really slow realization that he was talking to me. For context, I’m 53 and healthy.
What was this? Has it happened to anyone else?