Nose

 As anyone will tell you, the day after Thanksgiving is the one day that almost all retail workers dread.  They have to put up with long lines and screaming customers.  In 2006, I was working in the Home Store at Macy's.  I got there at 6am and was put on the register in Housewares.  When ringing customers on that day, you have to get into a rhythm.  You say "Thank You" a thousand times.  It was no different that day.  Ring the merchandise; bend over to get a bag; put the stuff in the bag; and thank the customer.
 I was supposed to have someone stand next to me and do the bag part, but not this morning.  After two hours of this, my supervisor came up to me and whispered in my ear to take a break.  I was very happy to do so.  We had brought food and put it in the stockroom, so I was ready for some breakfast.  I headed to the stockroom and opened the door.  The food looked great, but I felt that my nose was running.  I dabbed at it and found I was getting a nosebleed.
 I had them from time to time.  Once in a play in college after being hit during a fight scene.  The audience asked after it how I got fake blood up my nose.  It was real.  I have been "blessed" with thin membranes that I inherited from my Mother.  But, this bleed was nothing like that.  I couldn't stop it.  I pinched my nose, but that didn't help.  I put my finger under my nose and pressed.  It didn't work.  I put ice on it, but that just made my nose cold.  It still bled.  I used the phone in the stockroom and called out to the floor.  I needed to see my supervisor.
 She got the message and came back there to find blood on the floor and all over my clothes.  I was bleeding profusely.  She got a towel for me to catch the blood, but it still wasn't stopping.  This had been going on now for at least an hour.  She saw that we needed more help, so she called our first aid person who was also in charge of security.  I felt bad about her coming, because this was the biggest sales day of the year, which meant also the biggest theft day of the year, but she came with her first aid kit.  She stuck gauze up my nose, and the bleeding started to subside.  It had now been almost two hours since I had gone on break.
 It was decided that I needed to go home, but how could I get to my car without passing by numerous customers.  Macy's didn't have a back stairway like some stores had.  I had to get upstairs and out to the parking lot with the minimum people seeing me.  No need for them to get grossed out too.  They told me to do my best and walk fast.  I did walk by a man on the way who dropped his mouth open when he saw me.  He probably thought I had been in a fight with a customer.  I got to my car and drove home.
 I was off that Saturday and went to the doctor.  The bleeding had stopped, but it started up again in the waiting room.  At least the doctor could see what was going on.  They got it stopped and determined that dry air was the culprit.  I had bent down many times the day before to get bags, and the store's air was dry.  That started it all.  I was told to keep my nose moist and drink fluids.  One nurse suggested I get Vaseline and put a little up my nose.  That really did the job.  I have mentioned the Vaseline tip to other medical folks, and they have said they have not heard of that before, but it makes sense.
 When I went back to work the following Monday, I was treated with kid gloves.  That suited me okay.  No need to be overworked.

Scream

 I was in Atlanta one Saturday around 1996 to go record shopping.  I would usually do this a few times a year, because one of my joys was to find that special album.  And, one of my favorite stores to go to was a store at Lenox Mall.  They had almost everything one could want.
 On that particular Saturday, I went into the store and found some filming going on at the back of the store.  A film crew was in there shooting a scene for a movie.  I asked the store manager what was going on and should I leave?  He said the store was open for customers, but I needed to be quiet looking through the stacks of wax.  The director had asked the manager to unplug his phone while they were shooting, but the manager refused because the business was open.  So, they tried to shoot the scene.
 Every time the phone would ring, the director had to yell "Cut".  This went on for some time.  Someone from the crew asked me if I wanted to be in their picture, because they were going to pan the camera around the store.  I said okay, but I wouldn't be paid for my "appearance".  So, I stood there looking through the same records each time, because it had to look the same each time.  I spent much longer in that store than I had intended to do, but I thought another appearance on film would be cool.
 They finally got the scene done.  The director and cast left.  I asked one of the crew what this movie was, and he just said "Scream".  It was directed by Wes Craven.  I don't know what cast was there.  I sort of forgot about it until recently, when I saw the movie and sequels were on TV.  I never saw them in the theater, so I have been watching them.  I think my scene was cut out of the film, but I have one more of the three to watch.  Screaming silently.