Barium

We drink barium when we have medical checks.

Recently, they have been sealed up. We break a seal to open a bottle of barium. It is safe and hygienic. Sometimes it has an artificial taste. It is easy to drink.

In the 1980s, when I was a university student, a hospital served me barium with a paper cup. The cup was apparently reused. We were all wild in the 1980s.

A doctor gave me barium with a huge paper cup and said, “Drink up.”

Actually, this was a joke. In those days, barium simply had a bad taste. Most patients hesitated to drink it, but I was a reckless young man. I took the words literally. I started to drink it in great gulps.

The doctor was upset. “No, no, no! You should not really drink it up!”

Actually, we should drink barium in sips, a little at a time. We should not gulp it down.

The doctor watched the monitor and scolded me. “Look at this! Now your insides are all white. I can’t check anything!”

Dear friends, don’t excessively drink alcohol and even barium.

Picture by Masayuki Wada

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