"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. A few of those days and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world. " ~Ada Louise Huxtable
It's easy to get lost around this time of year.
So, without further ado: The living is easy
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The Sad Nature of Dumping:
First things first: go watch this video.
Done? Good. This is sadly a very poignant and true video. Not in the sense of a "dancing heart", but that many guys (and some girls) have the same problem as the young man.
I'm hoping, boys and girls, that many of you are paying attention.
While I cannot say I know the young man's experience (instead of comparing, I just became bitter), I watched a young man have this happen to him (by his own faulty design, I might add). Here's a hint: It ain't love if she doesn't feel it too.
And yet this young man will forever compare any girl that he tries to be with to his first love who jilted him.
I went to college with a guy who was the same way. He married young, and his wife left him. For the next five years, he looked for women like his ex-wife to use, abuse, and toss in the refuse.
Of course, if nothing else, enjoy the awesome effects of the video and the great song by Gnarls Barkley.
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Medical Dysfunction:
I make no secret that I really dislike going to the hospital and have a disdain for doctors. However, today was both a refreshing and depressing experience.
For the last few days something has been very wrong with me. Starting on Sunday, I suddenly came down with a fever of 103.2. Over the course of the next few days, the fevers would yo-yo up and down, but I would also gain pain, dizziness, a feeling I can imagine as evisceration in my stomach, and more. Add to the fact that I'm alone, and help was almost sought.
Ok, I managed to avoid the doctor until today.
Even I have to admit: four days of fever means it's time to go to the doctor.
Now, my guy couldn't see me. "I'm sorry you're sick," he tells me, "But I have patients in dire need. You know...triage?"
Fine, so I ask to see the PA. This is the secret of going to the doctor. The P.A. (Physician's Assistant) is eager to look good, so he or she will talk to you like a human being. She or he will look you in the eye and explain to you what's going on. And should the P.A. be unable to explain something...she or he will go to the doctor for a consult. You get the best of care because this person WANTS to make sure you get well.
Of course after thirty-five minutes (and three consults), she sat me down and said, "We really don't know what this is. So...we're going to try and treat symptoms. We also need to take blood."
Giving blood isn't a problem for me, though the woman in the chair next to me looked like she was going to faint. Turned out she had lied about eating that morning.
I sat in the waiting area as they needed to room I had been in, and I was amazed and kind of saddened by two facts:
1. The waiting area was almost completely full.
2. Almost 100% of those waiting were older.
With nothing else to do for a half hour (my blood had to be spun), I started talking to a couple in the corner.
"How long you been waiting?" I asked.
The elderly gentleman responded, "Well...I would guess about forty-five minutes."
His wife quietly peeped up, "No longer. We were just getting settled when they called you up."
And I found this fascinating. I arrived, gave my insurance card, sat for all of one minute, and they called me up. These two had not even seen the doctor yet. Turned out that he was having numbness issues, and she came to support him. He had an appointment, the doctor just took forever to get to him. When I left, they were still sitting there.
What will happen to our baby boomers? If a ton of them have issues, will they be served? I've been thinking alot about the woman who died on the floor of the emergency room as well as how expensive it is to go to the doctor. Hell, the woman who check me in talked about how ridiculous my co-pay is. She looked at the company and said, "Huh, they really don't want anyone healthy."
I don't care about my health problems. I've got a sibling versed in the eastern medical arts, and I know that many colds are solved by soup, water, and Gatorade. But grandma and grandpa Smith out there are pretty much screwed.
Maybe I'm overreacting....
And finally...
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That Creeping Feeling:
Oh Target...you rascally place you. It's only July, and yet your stores are now stocked with "Back to school" items.
It's too early. There is not a single student I know, nor a single teacher I know, who is jumping up down saying, "School's almost back in!!!"
Too early.
Wait until August 1st. That gives most kids lead in time. The products are going to sell better closer to the opening of school anyway.
Too early.
Of course what do I know? I'm a teacher. I could be wrong.
Namaste.
