Last week I was helping my mom with some yard work. While mowing happily along with a push behind weed trimmer I was suddenly stunned by an unpleasant sensation on my ankle. Next I noticed pain on my wrist. The pain quickly intensified and it dawned on me as to what was happening.
I had run into a nest of hornets, or wasps, (not sure, exactly).
By the time I noticed the intensifying pain in my side I was already running and groaning in agony, half mad from the pain. My mom quickly stopped what she was doing and my stepfather was quickly on the scene too. Once the adrenalin rush subsided I warned my parents of where not to go.
My mother showed concern and asked me if she needed to take me to a hospital. But by this time the pain was ebbing, though still painful as hell, and I couldn’t even see a mark on my left wrist where I had been stung only a minute earlier.
After about ten minutes I didn’t feel as though anything at all had happened to me. I continued clearing brush and trimming weeds all afternoon long. I suffered no ill effects.
I know some people would have been killed from a similar experience, but for me it was merely unpleasant. Does this count as a minor superpower or is it fairly common?
OK, killed is one thing but almost everyone I’ve told this story to over the last few days have described intense, lasting pain and intense swelling from only one sting. I had three all at once and walked away completely unharmed without so much as what most people get from a mosquito bite. That has to count for something.
Instant healing of an insect sting is not “normal.”
DJ Motorbike, perhaps you have a trivial version of Wolverine’s healing factor that may or may not be restricted to Apocrita. How will you use this new power for the good of mankind?
“Help! My child is trapped in that tree that has a bee’s nest in it! He’s allergic to bees and they’re high on amphetamines and desperate to sting something! Someone help!”
"Don’t worry, ma’am! They won’t do any harm to The Bee Nullifier™!"**
*I’ve trademarked that name, so you’ll have to use something else.
I was stung by a wasp in the ear last year. It hurt intensely for about 15 minutes. After half an hour, it was like it never happened. Maybe I’m Wolverine too! But more likely, you and I are just not that reactive to hornet venom or whatever the hell it was that stung us.
A few minutes ago I was browsing the SDMB. While reading happily along making an occasional short post I was suddenly stunned by an absolutely hysterical post. Next I saw it had been written by oft wears hats. My laughter quickly intensified and it dawned on me I was in danger of falling on the floor.
I had run into a very clever poster, or at least one having a moment of inspired wit (not sure, exactly).
By the time I was giggling and sniggering uncontrollably I was already starting to add my own response, half mad from the image of the BEE NULLIFIER ™. My son came to see why I was laughing and my neighbor was quickly on the scene too. Once the hysterical rush subsided I warned them of what not to read.
After about ten minutes I didn’t feel as though anything at all had happened to me. I suffered no ill effects.
I know some people would have been killed from a similar experience, but for me it was merely amusing. Does this count as a minor superpower or is it fairly common?
Why on earth would you use this power for good? Train a wasp army! Rob banks and beehives without a care in the world. You can be a powerful force for evil*. You can be “The Other Wasp”, not to be confused with the Marvel hero.
I was going to train an army of tame wasps to help me conquer the world. Would you like to join me? After all, if you and I are the only people who can shrug off wasp stings like this, we could wield an enormous power!
Seriously, confession time-- there is a huge wasp nest growing under my back porch roof. It’s half the size of a frisbee now and full of wasps (the yellow and black kind). I walk under this thing every day, and my head passes within a foot of this seething nest. Never once have they stung me. I even cleaned the gutters right above this. Several of them came out, flew around my head, and left.
They recognize my superpower. They will form the elite guard of my massive army of chitinous poison-tipped warriors! I am Wasp Wasted, The Hornet Queen! Bow down before my buzzing legions of striped soldiers or be stung into oblivion…obliviousness? Obviousness? Something. It will be painful, whatever it is.
Yeah, I’ll let you guys know when they come for me.
So you’re stung and doesn’t get hurt. Hmm, sounds like what happened to me the other day. I was in pain until I realized that I, in fact, wasn’t in pain at all. The stinger barely got in me before I swatted the offender away.
There’s no mark, no swelling, no pain? I say no superpower due to no sting.
Hah hah, little man. Your delay will cost you dearly.
While you have dithered, I have constructed an invulnerable fortress, made of a terrifying chemical that wreaks havoc on the world of man, usually known by its initials starting with “D” … Diethylstilbestrol!
Oh no, wait…that’s not what I meant.
I knew I should have taken chemistry in college.
No matter. Your insect army shall bear offspring with questionable reproductive organs, and I shall prevail.
I got stung under the tip of my thumbnail and shook it off in about thirty seconds. Went right back to doing what I was doing with my hands. Brushed the relocated hornet from my leg while wincing.
I seem to have a cast iron skull. I’ve fallen and hit my head, baseballs have beaned me, I’ve walked into sign poles, and aside from a momentary disorientation, nothing seems to have been broken. My mother tells me that when I was a baby, I crawled and hit my head against the leg of someone’s French provincial couch, breaking the leg off.