You know, you never realize how thoroughly ingrained a skill is until you have to use it.

Last night's business peaked early, so by 3 am the only customers were a man, his wife and their sleeping baby. The adults were sharing the two-egg country-fried steak breakfast, when suddenly...

huk huk huk...

I knew that sound too well, having been choke-prone in my childhood. Sure enough, the man was trying to gasp for air, a piece of the steak stuck in his throat. His wife was trying to apply the Heimlich Maneuver, but between his waist and her bust, she wasn't getting her hands into position. Finally, she stepped back and I went to work.

It was like slipping into a comfortable old shoe, the way I remembered the moves. Wrap the arms around the person (I was already past the "se if they're choking" stage, after all), clasp hands together over diaphragm, thrust in and up...

... and just like that, the food popped free. (Also, I popped his back. And pulled a muscle in my neck. But hey, it worked!)

Of course, I spent the rest of the night trying not to talk about the Heimlich Maneuver, since my adrenaline-addled brain insisted on running through every single variation of the method, but still...

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In other news, it looks like I'll be going to the TSA-Bash this year for definite. Still hammering out details, but it looks like a "go" from here on out.