To Tetanus, or not to Tetanus, THAT is the question...

I cut my finger (a teeny, tiny little cut) last night on our rusty half-drum fire pit.  I cleaned the cut really good with antibacterial soap and lots of peroxide, but I had to dig out a piece of rust with my tweezers and, for the first time in my life, I reacted to this minor surgical procedure by getting light-headed and nearly puking.  I had to put a cool wet cloth on my head and go lie down for a few minutes.  This is highly abnormal for me, I need you to understand.

So today, I'm all, "Hey guys, I cut my finger on a rusty drum, should I get a tetanus shot?" to which everyone replied, "When was the last time you had one?" and I was all, "Um, never" and they're all, "Yeah, you need to get one."  So I called my doctor's office, and as it turns out, getting a tetanus shot requires an office visit.  The lady on the phone warned me of this like it would cause me to back away, and offered the name of a local urgent care center.  "Oh, I've got insurance, an office visit is no big deal, if that's what I need to do."  I forget the times in which I'm living - insurance is a rare valuable commodity, one traded for health, and if you don't have it, well, maybe you'd rather take your chances at lockjaw?  (Honestly, I would take my chances if I didn't have insurance.  I assume no insurance would equate with little disposable income, and that means a $160 office visit would probably be out of reach on the spur of the moment.  I remember - I've been there.)

Tomorrow morning, 8:15 a.m., which means I'll likely see the doc at 8:45 or so, but whatevs.  I'll get my shot and I'll feel as if I've laid one fear to rest for a while, and I'll be much more careful (sober) when shoving kindling into the fire pit.

What do you think?  Am I wasting my $10 co-pay and 2 hours of work time and an extra hour of valuable sleep?  When was the last time YOU had a tetanus shot?  Is it just a bunch of hokey, or is this serious bidness that I shouldn't be making lame-ass jokes about?