I apologize for the late reporting, it was that I just simply couldn’t bear to sit down and write about such a thing in a manner which would not come off irate and disgusted until the dust could fully settle on my anger, I realize that by being further silent I, as well, have been complacent; and I apologize.
About a month ago I felt fortunate to be able to testify on behalf of an old friend, after I answered an urgent and open request from her to bear witness to the struggles she had faced with the complications involving her daily injections of insulin to control her diabetes.
The courage and wisdom I picked up from watching D pick her self up and carry herself through life were inspiring. She is the type of person with this type of insight, as a small child, she was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes. She was told all about how the insulin, which now needed to be injected into her body, for the rest of her life, was manufactured using the DNA of pigs. It impressed her greatly, and she looked upon it as a noble sacrifice; until, and further curious, as she looked into it, did a truer and more stark definition of the harsh and vile conditions which those animals are forced to live through come into focus. So much so, in fact, that she decided to give up animals as a staple, or part of her diet at all, and as time and life wore on, began to realize that her life was made possible, at first by animals, if not now other more technological efficient methods, so therefore, in her own words, she took it as a personal duty to help ease the suffering of those less able to demonstrate human suffering, for the rest of her life.
That said, when I heard the call that her good old uncle was now trying to stick it to her, I figured I could watch her back for her, however I could. She informed me that there was a proposal on the states table to slash the reimbursements of medical supplies, think diapers, oxygen tanks, ventilator equipment, bandages, etc, by twenty percent. The problem was, all of the suppliers of these products were saying that they would need to stop selling them entirely, as they could not eek out a profit if they stopped getting kicked back the standard subsidy for the equipment, from the state,…who doesn’t set the prices, leaving this instead open to the market, which can price and gouge willy nilly, or according to other contributing factors, like the cost of gasoline, ect,..which is also not set,….
And should it be? Not to get off topic, but should the markets be set by the government or the consumer? Well, if left up to the consumer, you are battling the sum aggregate of ignorance in the world, warring with stupidity, while if the gov sets the toll for everything, you are under their guns; they have you, check mate, fully. Basically, there is more room for the man in the street to manipulate the market through smart consumer decisions,….here the trembling sets in again,….than it is for him to stock pile ammunition and hope to take on his master head on, if the need should ever arise.
Us? We are flying a lone flag on this one. Erecting an ivory tower? No, simply right living, learning our hardest how go it alone with the hope that our own self sufficiency may help further inspire.
End rant,
When I got to the room with the man in the suit behind the microphone, and the ones who could make it whom the proposal would effect, the down and out,…down to what ever trickles out of the machine, alive only for the nipple has yet to be supped dry, and why can not we argue that if the commercials are going to hock garbage, lysol, proctor and gamble, McDonalds, and the like, stirring the pot so the dance of molecules gets all mucked up in the putrid muck and mire of our time,…Mybae they should be forced to bandage up the cancers for ever if their going to sell’em to ya,….and if its getting hard to follow along, maybe its time you took another Ritalin; or better yet, get up and take a walk with the ghost of your former self; slow at first, but then run, because its only when we really exorcise our thoughts that we begin to get fit, and if it isn’t mental fitness that fits in your pipe, then you better get a bigger bowl solider, because its almost 16:20 somewhere,….
The Man orientates everyone, and states explicitly to avoid redundancy in testimony, particularity if topics had been broached in previous testimony, and to keep in under 5 minutes,….
The first old man who came limping up with dignity to the mic told the room about his ping ponging in and out of the hospital when he was giving himself manual injections, he too was an insulin pump user, like Daniel, and they too, whoever his supply company, with the guy int eh back of the room with the 35 or so greasy slick back hairs talking about how his company couldn’t afford to further carry the dudes tubing, and how if they take his pump away, he would inevitably end up back in the hospital, again and again and again and again,…about three minutes, and he was done.
Up after him was some business man, talking about his bottom line, numbers, numbers, redundancy, numbers, for about 7 minutes.
Then business man, business woman, family member, business man, family member, afflicted.
It was a sad case, no doubt, but as I sat I couldn’t help but be disgusted with the business men, as the feeling that it was their duty, if all other situations involving the market were to prohibit them from providing these people with the basic necessities, that it would be their duty to strike, in the face of such obstacles put forth by the state, that simply, ‘cutting’ these items form their inventory was not possible.
But alas, I was there not as if I were in a park on what ever soap box I could salvage, but that I too was a surrogate for someone, as in most cases those directly effected need to live lives in order to eat, or are truly disabled and unable to make it into the city to testify on their own behalf.
I said my piece, respectful of my role, something like 35 out of 44, then I left.
I was saddened by the whole thing, I attempted to type this out a few times, get attention to the cause, but again, it only came out as bitter and vitriolic. But then, a few days ago, I got a message from D, and it worked, they decided not to go through with the cut, and the state subsidized diapers flowed like the river Niagra once again.