Losing Consciousness

There are some people out there who think that I lost consciousness a long time ago. I would be standing in a store, just sort of staring off into space, when somebody would come by and say, "Wake up Walter". I would be sitting in class and somebody would say, "Wake up Walter". My mind is constantly working. That is what creative people do. We are thinking. But to some, we are just off there somewhere. This bit is not about being creative. It is about fainting. There have been four times in my life that I have fainted. The first was when I was a child. My father took me to North Greenville Baptist College for something he was doing. We were waiting for lunch and standing outside in the heat, and I was very hungry. I just sat down on the sidewalk and fainted. They got something for me to eat, and I was okay. The second was when I was playing football. There was a group of us from church who were playing at Hand Middle School one Sunday afternoon. I went out for a pass, and suddenly I couldn't see. The quarterback threw it to me, and the ball hit me in the head, because I couldn't see. I just sat down and waited until my vision came back. I think I was dehydrated. The third time was at work at JB White's. I had a bad cold, and I took 3 Co-Tylenol pills. I got sick while working at the register and felt I needed to get to the stockroom. My legs stopped working and things went black. I remember the women saying that I just left them and went away. But, I couldn't walk. I crawled back to the stockroom, as I knew where it was. They sent me home that night, and I never got hours again to work, but I was never let go. The fourth time was when I was judging a speech contest at a school in Dalzell, SC. It was a rainy and cold day, and I had the flu. I wanted to do the judging, because I had committed to do it. I took some Robitussin and rode in a car with a woman named Mrs. Baille. She had the heat turned up, and it was very hot in her car. I got overheated. Just before our first judging was to start, I turned to the other judge and told her that I needed to get to the restroom. I got up and took two steps, and I fell backwards, hitting my head on the floor. I think I was out cold for just a few seconds, but when I woke up, there were people around me. They got me up and to the teacher's lounge. I didn't do any judging that day. They gave me orange juice and doughnuts, which was about all they had. While I was sitting in the lounge, I heard some kids talking about me fainting in their room. They thought it was cool. I just had a big bump on my head. At the end of the day, Mrs. Baille drove me back to Columbia. She was so scared that she drove all over the road. I was okay, but she thought I was dying. I guess that is what losing consciousness does to people. The doctor said that it was a reaction to the medicine. My advice to all is to take the dose that they say to do. Don't take more, if you think your symptoms are severe. So, that is the message today from the Doctor.