I’m going to start by saying I have never intended to use my blog to make political statements. I don’t post items in the hopes I will stir up controversy as I am a pacifist and am really uncomfortable with confrontation. In fact, I generally do everything I can to avoid confrontation. In spite of this, I have recently read some things and had some experiences which lead me to post today.
We are so blessed that throughout Hannah’s injury, ER visit and hospital stay that we have medical insurance. Our financial responsibility is still going to be steep, but nothing compared to what we would face uninsured. It never occurred to me to tell Jen no when she mentioned sending Hannah to the hospital for IV drugs. I never worried about Hannah’s stay in the hospital and how we were going to afford it. In fact, I was amazed Hannah’s stay was as long as it was given the state of drive-through hospital stays these days. As Paul commented below, he was only afforded a 23 hour stay in the hospital after he was hit by a car.
All of this got me thinking about how crucial universal health care is. I know there are people out there who will argue the “welfare” recipients are “lazy” and should just “work like the rest of us” to get themselves out of their financial straits and to get medical coverage. Having worked in the inner-city for seven years I can attest to the fact it’s not always that simple. However, many of these folks have children in their homes who are uninsured. Say what you may about the parents, judge them as much as you like, but it is in no way the children’s fault they are in the situation they are in. They did NOT ask to be born into poverty nor did they ask to be without health insurance. It is unconscionable these children are in such a dire situation while so many have so much. I think that people are more concerned with “me” than they are with “us” and with how their actions affect not just them, but society around them.
Which leads me to my next little rant. I’m terribly sorry if you are someone who does not believe in global warming because this part is really going to make you hot (no pun intended). I have seen many posts and comments recently from people saying they don’t care/aren’t worried about global warming. !!! How can this not bother you?!?!? Our children’s futures are at stake here. Our local actions have a global impact and things are looking pretty ugly.
There are those who will argue it’s a natural warming cycle or that the earth is so large there is no way we (as in humans) could have any impact on the climate. These folks feel righteous indignation when people begin to point out flaws in their logic, as Brien will often do with people in his office. But, as he says, “If you’re right, great. But, what if you’re wrong and you do nothing to change what is happening?” To all you doubters out there, please, for your children’s sake, for my children’s sake, for the world’s children’s sake, PLEASE make little changes in your lives that could help make a difference even though you don’t believe. I would like for this world to be here for my girls in 25 years’ time and I’m not sure it will be the same if we don’t start driving less, using less fossil fuels and the like.
Which leads me to a third topic–eating locally. For the past three years, Brien and I have belonged to an organic co-op. We did this for any number of reasons such as eating organic is SO much better for you and the distance the food has to travel to get to us is much shorter than much of that purchased in the local grocery store. I’m blessed in that our local Ukrop’s purchases much Virginia/locally grown produce as well as quite a bit of organic so if I need to replenish produce before the weekend I can. I mention the weekend because I have become a frequent visitor at the Williamsburg Farmers‘ Market. Following my mom’s and Terry’s example, I’m attempting to eat that which is in season and local. I’ve purchased Swiss chard, yellow squash, garlic, basil, bok choy, eggs, bison, chicken and pork at this farmers‘ market. I’m looking forward to the tomatoes and corn in the coming weeks!
Another change I’ve made is eliminating bottled water from our house. I no longer purchase it, much to Hannah’s disappointment. Even though I recycle all my bottles, the amount of petroleum that goes into not only producing the bottles, but also in transporting the bottles from one location to another is not worth the convenience of the chilled bottles. And really, isn’t that what it all comes down to? We Americans LOVE our conveniences and are threatened when it looks as if we will be forced to give some of them up. Isn’t it interesting how so many of these modern conveniences are destroying our world?Please, if you have the opportunity, watch the Planet Earth series on Discovery channel. We are all a part of planet earth and it really brought home to me how much my actions and those of my family really do impact the world.
Don’t be foolish and naive like I was. I went years without shopping around my insurance rates, and one day it dawned on me.. All I had to do was take 5 minutes and get some free quotes and boy, did I ever save some major $$ 