Nipple Guy (The Sequel)

Several months ago Capt Atopic posted a piece about a person he dubbed "nipple guy" (NG). Read about these incidents here before you continue.

I must say that I was present at the second incident (No, I am not Spidergirl), where I witnessed what can only be described as the pinnacle of sheer awkwardness and social impotence. For me to be able remark on NG's people skills implies that he has a severe defecit. I myself am not exaclty a super happy people-person. In fact I'm often very far from personable, with a minimum 2 coffee loading dose required to give me any kind of social ability in the mornings (This makes 8am PBL very painful some mornings). Prior to a sufficient blood caffiene level my lexicon resembles that of a troglodite, and a typical exchange in such a state would occur as follows:

Person: "Hey Voice of Reason? What do you think about that we had lecture last night?"

Me: "Gnrrrgh, unnnngh! Is coffee cart open yet?"

Person: "Not till 8:30. Are you ok?"

Me: "Nrrrgh, need coffe! Gnrrrgh" *Passes out*

After a long winded segway we now return you to you're scheduled broadcast. I believed that a person with people skills worse than me at my worst couldn't have any other flaws. Regrettably I was Wrong.

Today I was among a small group of second year medical students who saw a coroner's autopsy, and so was NG. I was kind of interested in seeing how this process worked and wondering what the difference in appearance was between the preserved cadaver in an anatomy lab and the unpreserved corpse we were to see at the pathology centre.

However, despite my academic leanings I found my interest was rapidly tempered with some guilt and sadness as well as a little emotional discomfort. The realisation that my learning experience came at the expense of a previously healthy person dying in unusual and unexpected circumstances was rather harrowing. Additionally the corpse looked far more alive the those I had previously seen in the anatomy lab, and if it weren't for the small amount of lividity I would have expected this "corpse" to sit up and ask for some clothes.

Unfortunately, these considerations were either not apparent to NG, or he simply discarded them. I have never seen someone so excited by the concept of death. I was actually a little scared of him, he was almost smiling during the procedure and I felt a sense of barely controlled excitement coming from him. I honestly couldn't tell if he really wanted to be a pathologist or was just excited by the process of an autopsy. Watching a cadaver laid bare on a slab being reduced to a hollow shell was academically interesting to the scientist in me, but rather burdensome for the human in me as well. The realisation that the person was now both physically empty and absent of the spark of humnaity, that silent passenger who resides in all of us, was a chillingly ominous reminder of the temporary status we all have. This gave me very little cause for excitement.

I'm just hoping that NG really wants to be a pathologist.