I'm a well read grad student who's bluntly honest about all things, although I try to be most honest about myself.
I threw out my knee. Sympathy pain or reason to stay home while this works itself out and read? I choose both.
It's runner's knee, which can be horribly painful. That moment when, in public, you realize you may not be able stand up and are deciding if you should google the phone number for the store you're in - New England Mobile Book Fair - and tell them you're very sorry but you're stuck in their bargain section and it hurts too much to move, and you didn't want to call an ambulance or anything without letting them know.
Luckily, it worked itself out enough that I could hobble around the book store a bit more. Am at home, and can tell you that the friction of taking off my shoe hurt more than going up the stairs, believe it or not.
Am going to marathon Medusa's Web, or at least a good chuck of it after I take a hot shower and see if the steam helps work out more of the kinks in my knee!