A few months ago, I made a post about going to see a play with my family; a Romeo and Juliet parody. You can read about my experience here, but if you want a TL;DR version, I didn’t like it. I have another theater-related story that you might find interesting. My mom sent me a link to a play called “Testosterone”.
According to a promo, the play starts with a bride running away from a wedding and the groom being angry. It’s about lust, desire for love, loneliness, gender relations, etc. It asks if humans are primarilly guided by reason, feelings or hormones. I don’t have a problem with any of this, but there was a line that didn’t sit right with me. One of the characters claims that testosterone turns men into potential rapists and murderers.
I thought, “Crap, is this play about hating men?” This is something that I try to avoid whenever I go on the internet, now I have to sit through two hours of it? I shared my concerns with my mom, but she said it was just satire. I was wondering if I should just decline the offer, but then I figured, I’m jumping to conclusions. I don’t know the context behind that line. Maybe the character who said it isn’t portrayed as correct. I was still a little worried, but I decided to actually watch the play before I judge it.
A few days before the play, I woke up and started to make breakfast. As usual, I was the first one up. I was getting dizzy and my vision was getting blurry. At first, I thought I was still a little sleepy, but then it got worse. I walked out of the kitchen and cried out for my aunt before I fainted. When I regained my consciousness, my aunt and brother were carrying me back to my bed. They told me that I collapsed and hit my head on the table. I really scared them.
I went to the doctor and I had to get my blood drawn. It turned out that I was suffering from iron deficiency. I had to eat food with iron and take iron supplements for a few months. My family didn’t want me leaving the house for a few days after I fainted, so I didn’t go to the play. Call me a coward if you want, but I didn’t ask any questions about the play after they came back. I just asked if they liked it and they said yes.
I don’t know if I dodged a bullet or missed out on something great, but I find it funny how the whole thing concluded. I mentally prepared myself to watch a play about a controversial topic, only for something completely unrelated to stop me. Don’t worry about my health. This all happened over a year ago and I feel much better now. The message that I want to end this with is, focus more on people who love you and less on people who hate you. You can’t entirely ignore the latter, but don’t let them live rent-free in your head.