I’ve been reading a lot about health care reform on a number of websites: Liberal, Conservative, and middle-of-the road. Since I don’t watch television, I have been spared the agony of the public relations campaigns from all sides of the arguments.

Health Care Reform: What are the answers?

I had my own immersion recently into health care with my bout of kidney stones and my four day stay in the hospital. This coincides with an observation of my mine about the motorized shopping carts at Wal-Mart.  This got me thinking about personal responsibility and the sense of entitlement  with which many in this country suffer.

As adults we need to take personal responsibility for our own health.  That includes eating a balance diet, exercise, seeing a doctor on a regular basis to detect disease in its earliest stages.  It also includes foregoing habits like smoking, drinking to excess, eating unhealthy foods, illegal drugs, abuse of prescription medications, unsafe sexual practices, medical non-compliance.

Back to those motorized shopping carts at Wal-Mart.

Simplybrent was able to come up with this pic. Do note the crutches in the basket and the lack of Little Debbie Snacks. Still, Karma is a bitch!

I cannot count the number of times that I have observed people walking into the store and then sitting down in one of those motorized carts.  Mind you, these are individuals who could use the exercise of walking the aisles of Wal-Mart!!!   I always make a habit of checking their baskets further back in the store.  Usually the cart is filled with Little Debbie Snack Cakes, Doritos, and assorted junk food. This is where I have a problem with paying for these individuals’ health care.  Where is the personal responsibility?

Beer/Fries/Cigarette...can Nascar be far behind?

The other burr under my saddle is smoking. Smoking is just bad for ones health and those around them.  Again, where is the smoker’s premium in either plan?  Smokers should bare a MUCH higher health care cost than the population at large.

Somewhere along the way,  many people in this country became divorced from the idea that our own health is our own responsibility.  Far too many people are simply willing to smoke cigarettes, eat pork rinds, and, down 12 beers a day and then when their health inevitably hits the skids they want SOMEBODY ELSE to fix the problem and also pay for it.  It just cannot work that way!!!

Take a look at our corporate culture and advertising and it explains much of the reason why personal responsibility is not included into any version of health care reform.  Nestle, Sysco, McDonalds, Kraft Foods, ConAgra, Pepsico/FritoLay, are among many, many corporate giants whose job it is to produce and market crap food that is a slow form of suicide. It would take a complete re-invention of American food culture to turn the tide on diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and a host of conditions due to poor health choices.

Given the current state of Americans’ health habits and their lack of personal responsibility for those habits, we really cannot afford a universal health care plan.

Should health care costs be addressed? Absolutely!  The cost  for my four days at Schneck Medical Center including professional fees, tests, etc, was $38,400.00.  Staggering! Surely I’m not naive enough to believe that that was the actual cost of performing those services.  I’m also paying for people who don’t have health insurance and Schneck is passing those costs along to me since I have insurance and the ability to pay.

I say our elected officials need to go completely back to the drawing board and come up with common sense solutions that factor in personal responsibility and make corporations pay for marketing crap that is detrimental to the health and welfare of Americans.  Universal Health Care does work in some countries and works well.  We need to reform some of our thinking before we can reform health care in America.

"Place the oxygen mask on yourself first..."

The single greatest piece of advice that I have ever received didn’t come from a great philospher, a minister, or  Nobel prize winner. It came from a stewardess.

Although I had flown before, I remember well the US Air flight from Indianapolis to Washington D.C. in April 1982.  I was flying to Washington for a job interview right out of college.

As the plane leveled off after takeoff the stewardess went through the usual safety schpiel that most people ignore.  This time something in the instructions resonated with me and stuck.

• “Should the cabin experience a loss of pressure, oxygen masks will drop down from the overhead compartment. Place the oxygen mask on yourself first, so that you are better able to assist those around you. ”

So what is so profound about this statement?  For those of us in the business of helping others in need, this makes perfect sense.    There will always be something to do. There will always be pressing needs.  There will always be one more task to complete.   The Protestant Work Ethic has taught us that you only rest once the work is complete. It would be selfish to look to your own needs first. The problem with that thinking is that the work is NEVER complete. The ducks never get in a row.  If you keep working past a certain point, you become burnt-out , resentful, and hateful and your work product is poor, your productivity is weak.

Instead, STOP!  Take a break. Completely disengage from the task at hand. Renew your energy and mental focus.  Then return to the task with renewed focus and energy.

After 16 years working in the business of assisting others, I have seen the consequences of ignoring The Oxygen Mask Advice. People turn to alcohol, over-eating, prescription drugs, anti-depressants, etc. as a solace to deal with stress.  They become bitter and cynical about the very people who they are supposed to serve.

A fantastic book that speaks to this very piece of advice is The Power of Full Engagement by Dr. Jim Loehr.   Dr. Loehr works at the Human Performance  Institute.  Dr. Loehr was studied the top performers in many different fields (sports, art, music, business, leadership) and has found that top performers “get” this advice and incorporate this into their routines.  If I had to recommend one self-help book, this would be the one I would recommend. It’s not about managing time, it’s about managing energy.

Take a break! Put the oxygen mask on and take some deep cleansing breaths.

In order to fully understand this particular post it is necessary to understand the Myth of Sisyphus. According to Greek mythology,  Sisyphus angered the gods for his trickery and deceit.  As a punishment, the gods sentenced Sisyphus to spend the rest of eternity rolling a large boulder up a steep hill only to see it roll back downhill shortly before reaching the top, only to start the chore over again.

Sisyphus and his pointless task.

Be forewarned: this post is a bitter pill to swallow. There comes a time in the life of everyone in child welfare or social work when the job seems overwhelming or pointless. I am at such a point.

There are answers to address problems.  They are not easy. They will take a generation to show results.

As I sit here writing this blog, there are self-absorbed, irresponsible, drug-addicted humans engaging in unprotected, recreational sex. The result of that union will be an unloved, unwanted child.  No sugar-coating that one.

Once the novelty of this unwanted child wears off, the neglect begins.  An infant is a world of need.  The chemically-addicted can engage in two activities and two activities only: procurement and consumption. The needs of an infant or child interfere with this process.  Those of us in child welfare see this on a daily basis.  What we do is extremely important work.  What we do well is seeing that children arrive at their 18th birthday safe and healthy.  What we cannot remedy is the experience of growing up unwanted. What that experience will create is a gaping wound of need.The cycle begins anew.

Having spent some time working on the frontlines, the answer is simple enough.  Stop the process where penis meets vagina.  Humans will engage in recreation sex. Always have. Always will.  Let’s be mature adults about this. Abstinence education has failed us miserably.  A mature, commonsense sex education program beginning in elementary school is a must.

Simple math tells us that males are the primary problem.  Males have more sexual relations with more partners than females.  (It is not uncommon for males to have as many as 12 children by 10 different mothers.)  Leaving birth control to women has not been effective or efficient. Expecting the chemically-addicted to make responsible choices in birth control is pointless. The only proponent of condoms are women who have never had to wear one.  Until they invent a condom that actually enhances the sexual experience they will not be worn.

I am a proponent of cash incentives for vasectomies beginning in adolescence.  Vasectomies are a sure bet. They can also be reversed later in life when a responsible choice can be made. Vasectomies can be performed safely and efficiently for a relatively small cost.  A CASH incentive of $2,000.00 would be a small cost to pay based on the potential savings and the spared heartache of all involved.

Your thoughts?

May 2, 2009:  The chicks are going through an ugly period.  They have lost their fuzz and have not quite got their feathers yet.   Some can fly quite a ways.

Petunia struts her stuff.

Chicks gather for their fortnightly Mensa meeting.

We have moved them to the pole barn, but they still have access to a heat lamp.

We had one goose casualty this week.  I think the bird suffered hypothermia.  The ducks are extremely messy.  They sling water everywhere.  We really did not intend on getting ducks. The kids just thought they were cute.

I always thought that ducks are just smaller geese.  Actually, they are very different creatures. Geese are more social and are slower to mature.  Thus the geese cannot get wet until they have feathers.  Geese stick together as a flock, ducks do their own thing like cats. Geese are entirely vegetarian, ducks eats bugs, fish, frogs, as well as grains and seeds.

We seperated the ducks and geese and now the geese are thriving again.  The geese like to raise a ruckus when we enter the barn.  They have become used to being handled.

I have watched and read with interest about the recent TEA Parties held both locally and nationwide.  TEA standing for Taxed  Enough Already.  It sure sounds great!!  I would be for less taxes. Bang the drum.  Sound the trumpets! Rhetoric-a-palooza!!!

Another crazy tea party.

Amid all the fanfare and shouting and rhetoric, not once did I hear either private citizen or politician step to the front of the crowd and say, ” I will give up_______!”  Or “I, personally, will sacrifice ________!” It is easy to decry taxation, but at what cost?

If taxes are cut, expenses must be cut as well.  What are YOU willing to give up?  I don’t mean a collective YOU, I mean YOU personally.  As Americans we have become accustomed to wanting what we want without wanting to pay for it.  The best analogy that I can think of is the compulsive gambler who has stayed far too long at the craps table.  Time to get up and leave the table and settle up.

I find it interesting that our own local, conservative newspaper will condemn the Stimulus Bill on the editorial page, but triumph funding for a local project provided by through the same Stimulus Bill.  We can’t have it both ways.

With that said, I agree that taxes need trimming. But I’m also willing to sacrifice. I’m willing to pay more for GREEN ENERGY.  I’m willing to support local merchants and forego Wal-Mart and Target to demand more American-made products on the shelf. I’m willing to volunteer more to reduce expenses.  I’m willing to let GM, Citicorp, AIG, Fannie Mae fail because out of those failures smaller, more efficient companies  will immerge and thrive.  I didn’t support the bailout under the Bush Administration and I didn’t support the bailout under the Obama Administration.

Are YOU willing to volunteer your time and efforts and be more generous in order that social services programs can be reduced?  Are YOU willing to organize and participate in a Neighborhood Watch program, so that police patrols in your neighborhood can be cut?  Are YOU willing to recycle all your trash and compost your scraps so that trash collection can be reduced?  Are YOU willing to volunteer at your child’s school to save on expenses?

It all begins with me (or YOU).

Baby steps.  I had told TT yesterday  that if I didn’t get to the pool this morning I was a p*ssy.  For accountability he stated that he would be there as well and was a p*ssy if he didn’t show.

I have NOT been to the pool in 2009.  I get up early to run, bike, row, etc.  Just can’t seem to get up and make it to the pool.

I set the alarm for 4 a.m. and went downstairs to shut off the second alarm.  I told myself as soon as I shut off the second alarm I was going back to bed.  As soon as I shut off the alarm I said that I would drink some coffee, but I wasn’t swimming.  After I had coffee I said that I would get dressed to swim, but I would only drive to the pool and make an appearance, but wouldn’t stay long.  Long story short: I swam for an hour and felt a sense of achievement.  Oh,  TT didn’t make it!!

3-23-09 Ran 5.5 miles in the morning.

No. regrets.  Last night our local school board held a community forum to  get community input on elementary school plans.  I, in effect, called the superintendent a liar and the school board members crooks.

These are things that people have been saying behind their backs and I felt a need to bring it into the open.  Sure, I will get some flack for it, but, it had to be said.

I explained to my kids that it was like the story of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” where  a small boy finally speaks out about the fact that the Emperor is naked.  I still think the board’ members’  minds are set and the forum was just window dressing.  My$.02.

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