The Main Thing is not to Panic...

Are you as sick as I am of hearing about the swine flu? I usually watch the news every day, but I'm getting tired of H1N1 being headline news every night! I want to hear about something else people! I would even rather start hearing about America's health care reform again! Wow...I must be desperate - I never thought I wanted to hear about that again!

Although, some of the news about H1N1 is starting to make me laugh. A couple of days ago I was watching CTV News, and they reported that clinics were giving numbered bracelets to the people in line for the vaccine that needed to have the shot the most - the ones who are more at risk of contracting H1N1. The part that made me laugh was that people are actually scalping their bracelets! So panic has given way to money...isn't that always the way. Don't get any ideas though - health care workers say they will personally put the bracelet on for you if you are at risk of the virus, especially if you have brought your children to get the vaccine.

Does anyone remember SARS? It was only a few years ago, and everyone was in a panic over it, then it all died down, and now no one ever talks about it anymore. I can't help but think that the swine flu will eventually go away, then we will forget about it, just like SARS.

Why do we work ourselves into a panic over things like this? Does no one understand that worrying and being anxious doesn't help? Does this sound familiar to anyone - "Who among you can add a single day to his life by worrying?" Can worrying stop your child from getting sick? If you panic, will it make the line up at the clinic move faster? If you develop an ulcer will you and your family live longer? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet, this is how we live. Not worrying doesn't mean that you don't care or aren't concerned about things - it just means that you know worrying is not going to help the situation. It means that you are rational.

I can't believe I missed so many days of blogging last month. I had forgotten how great it is to be able to voice my opinions about stuff like this without having anyone to argue with me. Although, sometimes I would welcome an opposing opinion...it adds spice to life! Get a blog people! It feels great!

Why Don't They Just Ask Us?

Health care seems to be the "hot topic" now, probably ever since Michael Moore had the guts to make a documentary about it! If I recall, America's health care system came out under Cuba's!

As a Canadian, I am proud to say that we are number 2 in the world in regards to our health care. True, on a government sponsored health care system the waiting time is a LOT longer, but as a Canadian citizen, I can feel good knowing that no matter where I am in this country, I will be taken care of if something happens. There are many people who would never be able to afford health care if it were to be privatized. If it ever came down to a hospital bill of thousands (or hundreds of thousands. as it is in a lot of cases) of dollars, or a 2 hour wait, I've got a lot more time than money!

I've been hearing the discussions and debates about Barack Obama's plan to reform America's health care system, and to be honest, sometimes it just makes me laugh. They are so scared of this plan being put into place! Do they not know that public health care works in a lot of countries? Don't they realize that they have a neighbour that has done it successfully for years? They could call in a favor and just ask us for some advice - I'm sure we could help them out quite a bit. And I'm sure we would as well. Even if they asked rudely, we are nice people! We would still gladly help out.

But...like most big brothers, they are too used to helping the little brother, and probably think that little brother can't help them...

Hopefully they do eventually reform their health care, so that millions of people can afford to go to the hospital when they are ill or injured. (Americans are well known for being proud to be Americans, but when that guy in Michael Moore's film "Sicko" found out it would cost him $72,000 to sew two fingers back on, I'll bet he wished he had been born somewhere else!)

Please get a grip America...let's move onto something else. The only people fighting the reform are the rich anyways, because they are scared of being treated just like everybody else.