People that faint... come out of the closet

After Eileen's dramatic moment, way more people than I expected have fessed up to having fainted in a hospital or in a doctor's office. For those of you interested, I found in wisegeek.com the following small history of the fainting couch.

A fainting couch is a backless couch with typically one end raised to recline upon. Though couches like this might have been made prior to the 19th century, the fainting couch wasn't commonly referred to as such until the 19th century. The fainting couch was made for women, especially since so many women in the 1800s wore corsets. Corsets kept a woman breathless, making it much more likely she would faint. Some homes, and hotels even had fainting rooms, where women could catch their breath on a fainting couch.

By the way.. smelling salts will be carried at all times.. (Smelling salts are a combination of ammonium carbonate and perfume. They were traditionally used to revive people from faints, and are often associated with frail 19th century women) and no Eileen is hardly a frail 19th century woman...

Maybe I should rent one at the B.I. Hilton....