Well, today, as I type this out I am at the doc’s office. Now don’t worry ’cause Mrs. Roberts makes sure that I do the right things to keep me young ’cause she’s younger than me & no one wants to hang out with an old cranky sick man; we have enough of those fellas in Washington. The only thing I think I could claim as an ailment is the nagging I get if I don’t do the right things my wife tells me to do. But I will tell you that’s a whole lot better than having someone say “I told you so!” on your death bed or not having someone care at all.
Now, it’s been some time since I have had a physical, you know the whole prodding and poking routine. I can tell you not much has changed; it still remains to be called prodding and poking! Only difference is, when you get older, you care less if the nurse is pretty and care more if they find something. The good thing is that they leave the worst for last; this only applies to guys … Cough!
Well, I got to the office thirty minutes before my scheduled appointment, to fill out the paperwork. Boy, I’ll tell you folks if I would have know that I was going to be quizzed on my life I would have studied up. I only hope that they come out with a book on all the info I gave them and I get a royalty. Especially because most of the questions they asked me were about body parts I knew nothing about and are not something I thought anyone would want to read about.
I did, after one and a half hours, get in to see the doc, but not before I had a chance to see a whole array of folks from old to young, weak to strong. I like to believe my line of work (a stage performer) has allowed me to spot if folks are happy or sad just by looking at their faces. I have to say that most folks don’t seem very happy waiting in a doctor’s office. It’s a given that you usually not there because you want to check in with the doctor to rub in the fact that you are healthy and you won’t be needing his services anymore. No, in most cases you are there ’cause something not right and the doc is the to tell you, “I told you so!”
Ok, so I finally get in and much to my surprise I am not seeing the doctor, no, I am seeing the nurse practitioner, I have to say, I would rather not have the person called a PRACTItioner PRACTICing on me, sounds a little bit geeni pig-ish.
Here we go… Someone brought me into the room, someone else took my temperature, Someone else took my blood pressure. The interesting thing to me is each one of the first three folks and including the PRACTICING nurse asked me the same four questions, which were in that stack of forms I filled out; I think they were testing me. Maybe in the end, based upon how well I know myself, they decide how much I pay.
I am one of the lucky folks that has a job that has benefits. Sometimes that makes me wonder if I really am the lucky one. Now I don’t want you to think this is my Republican blood sneaking out. I believe that if folks are human they deserve human decency when it comes to our country’s services and care. I feel I needed to express that before I went on. Nothing worse than being misunderstood because you’re not book-smart enough to convey your thoughts.
Ok, as I was saying, maybe folks that don’t have medical Insurance might be in a better bargaining position. Here’s why: My family will be my example: my mother does not have anything other than Medicare and my father’s (deceased) benefits. I have Insurance with yearly limits. If my mother, has an issue medically she can use what the government gives her. Then in her, and I say HER case, she runs out of Medicare money, she has lower income programs that allow her to get better rates on a place to live, eat, service… However, in my case I get a certain amount of yearly money and if I go over that, I have to wait until the next year and start again. That does make it tough if you are in the middle of a procedure.
This Medicare mess needs clarifying. Now, I don’t know if Democrats have it wrong, or Republicans have it right or vice-versa. What I do know is that politicians can make the simplest issue seem like brain surgery. I say put it all on two pieces of paper, make it simple, and don’t let a lawyer draft it, ’cause you’ll need a lawyer to decode that lawyer’s mumbo jumbo. Then send it to each and every American with a voting ballot. This way “we the people” can tell our government what we want. If we leave this issue up to the politicians in Washington, we might just need an aspirin and someone to call in the morning!
Your friend,
About Will: Cowboy Act in the Cirque Du Soleil show “Viva Elvis in Vegas. Syndicated Cartoon/Humorist – Will Says – A modern Day Will Rogers.
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