I had to do a cardio stress test at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City this morning, a residual checkup from a chest pain scare I had last year (it appears I just pulled a muscle, no worries) and it seems that a cardio stress test is really, really hard for some people. For me it was a quick nine-minutes walking increasingly fast at an incline on a treadmill, thank goodness, and all appears to be well. But the nurse kept holding the small of my back, while she and the doctor kept asking if I was okay and I felt as though I could continue.
And though they kept telling me to look forward (maybe to derive inspiration from the giant "PERSERVERE" poster on the wall, accompanied by a tiny picture of that old woman doing the vertical splits on a bus stop – inspiring words: "If I can do it, you can"), I couldn't help but look around, too, much to the doctor and nurse's chagrin. How looking straight ahead has any impact on the results of a stress test is beyond me, but they insisted, so I tried to accommodate them.
Still, I am glad I snuck a little glance to the left, because there it was: basically the best picture I've seen in a long time. A cat on safari, with just the right clothes for the excursion.
