Wow, here’s one for you. I looked up from the chart I was writing out. Two policemen stood before me, flanking a reedy young man, a kid really, dressed in shabby clothes. One of the officers lifted up a paper bag and shook it. We got called by this kid’s parents. They said he was acting goofy, high on drugs or something. We found him with this.
Bill, the emergency room charge nurse, peered over the top of his glasses. Okay, he said. What’s this?
This, the officer said, shaking the bag again, is a hamster--a dead hamster.
Bill pushed his glasses back in place, waiting for the payoff. Uh-huh, he said.
The second officer leaned forward. He had it in his mouth.
