I had to fill a prescription the other day. My insurance picks up 80 percent.  A 30-day supply of one of them costs more than my monthly mortgage. Those 30 pills cost over $1,000 without insurance.  ” Did the price go up?” I asked. The pharmacy assistant said I’d probably reached my doughnut hole.   “A what!  Oh, that again.” I said shaking my head.  He further commented, “You should probably call your insurance company.”

“Yes, I will. Can I get the generic ?” I asked. “I’m sorry. They don’t have a generic for this one.” He was pissed but, composed.  Poor thing, he won’t be in this job for long.  It’s stressful to tell customers day in and day about a doughnut.  Who made up that analogy anyway.

 

Each month I fill my meds; there’s a different overworked and overstressed face at the counter. And, poor me, I left without my medication. It’s a good thing I had some left.  Now I’ve got to put on my boxing gloves, step into the ring, sit on the phone for an hour or more and fight for some damn pills.

Why Not Be A Dog?

 

I watched a woman in a wheelchair roll away from her insulin medication because she couldn’t afford it.  They said it was over $500.  Meanwhile, at the Vet’s office, a woman whipped out a debit card to pay over $150 for her diabetic dog’s 30-day supply of insulin including the needles and testing strips. Maybe that lady in the wheelchair should head over to VetMet online.  Same medication at a lower price.

I understand the game. So, I’ll work out how to crawl out of the doughnut. Or maybe my protests about this overpriced medication won’t change a thing because greed runs the show.  Of course, we need free health care and an end to medicine only available to those with credit cards or full-coverage insurance plans.

 

The state of our country is not just about Trump. It’s the down and dirty values, and beliefs held by a small minority of Americans have. “It’s about me and mine.”  Attitudes and words not openly spilled in “polite company” are up in our faces. And, it is not pretty. It’s also not just about the rich either. One person does not rock a boat of this magnitude. I say keep your eye on the folks steering it.

The elephant in the room is in the driver’s seat.  I say great! Show me the faces behind the offensive words posted on “Facebook” or hidden behind freshly ironed KKK hood or slimy smiles from nicely mannered folks who either benefit or are too ignorant to know when they are getting screwed.   Show me the Nazi youth and domestic terrorists. Let me see the profiteers off of our health. Let’s put it all on the table. Blammm! There it is!

This inhumane, greedy and cruel country at times fills me with so much rage and confusion that I either cry uncontrollably or laugh hysterically. I’ve been close to the edge bunches of times but, somehow there was always something or someone to pull me back.  The worse is to pretend it isn’t happening.   We comfort each other to remind us that once upon a time we all stood on solid ground,  and lament because we all know that’s not true. I was never standing on solid ground. I know that much. The floor has always felt shaky for me.

I’m amazed people are shocked. The simmering anger and hatred have always been here.  The disdain from those with the money,  privileged or power is not going anywhere along with all the “isms” you attach.  Face it our hidden truths are what make America great. Folks who’ve never set foot in the U.S.,  and only know us through the movies they’ve watched about us, are finally seeing the real deal. Scary isn’t it?

I have a nephew in Sudan post who posted a comment on Facebook that he had the right to “Freedom of Speech” after I rebuked him on his use of the word, “Nigger.”  He said he had “Freedom of Speech” to say what he wanted to say. If I were standing in front of him, I would have busted out laughin’. “Freedom of Speech. Really? Boy, you live under a Dictatorship.” Now that was a “Negro…. please”  moment. You see,  our nonsense and even our catchy vernacular has become part of the “Greatest Show On Earth.”

 

I had to fight with my insurance company who refused to pay $50 for ice-packs applied during my physical therapy appointments.  We’re talking $720.00 for someone to walk across the room, take an ice-pack out of a refrigerator and lay the “shared-reusable” ice pack onto my knees for 10 minutes. Thank God I got a representative on the phone willing to make this ridiculous pile of individual bills that came all at one time months later, go away.  The statements came from a collection company.  It was the first time I saw all the bills. It turns out the medical group lied about the treatment and billed separately for the ice.

“Damn expensive ice-packs,” she remarked.  I answered, “If you guys can’t fix it I want every single ice-pack they put on me to sell on eBay.  I only need to keep one.”  We both laughed. But, what happens to people who don’t believe they have the right to protest? They would have struggled to pay off that $720.00 with interest for the most expensive ice packs money could buy.

The DNA of an octopus, according to the scientist, contains nearly 10,000 more gene codes than us. The U.S. experience is “wired” into our collective DNA. The good, the bad and the unrelenting dishonesty and hypocrisy.  Are we stupid or is the octopus just a relentless survivor. Now, I don’t want octopus DNA (nasty looking creature) but, I’m questioning if I want to hang onto ours either.

Here’s another example of how our country hides from the truth. Check it out. An abused woman shows up in an emergency room beaten half to death. Her eyes are full of fear and mascara sliding down her face with old bruises on her arms and neck. She tells the ER attendant she tripped and fell down a flight of stairs. The person who brought her in, no less,  stands there with a tormented face co-signing her lie. ” I’m just clumsy,” she says in a quiet voice.

The ER attendant knows it’s a lie and take her to the back alone, and tells the other person to wait out in the lobby.   Quietly he asks the woman as he helps her onto the hospital bed, “Are u OK. Do you need me to call someone ?” “No I’m good,” she says. The woman’s wounds are patched up, and, she’s sent home with some pain killers to another ass-whipping’.  The cycle will continue, and she’ll hide it until the next time.  And, if this isn’t bad enough look at this message that came up when I went to the National Domestic Abuse site.

Safety Alert: Computer use can be monitored and is impossible to completely clear. If you are afraid your internet usage might be monitored, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224. Users of web browser Microsoft Edge will be redirected to Google when clicking the “X” or “Escape” button.

I hope our country’s historical and current dishonest display stays in the public eye long enough for us to agree that exposing the horror will get us on a more humane path. In the meantime, we’ve got a President who gives the thumbs up on shooting asylum seekers at the Mexican Border.  But, pay attention to who is running this show. I have yet to hear a reporter or commentator address who got this migrant caravan started in the first place. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn initiated by the “powers that be. To muster up enough support to get Trump’s beloved wall put up.

This many people don’t just pack up their stuff and start matching without someone lighting a fire under them.  If all the migrants were let into the U.S. where are they going to go? Who is going to take care of them?  Where will they live? Guess they’ll join the other thousands of homeless folks living on the streets in Los Angeles or head up north to Oakland and set up tents under the freeway.  And, let’s not even talk about the thousands of people displaced in the California fires this year. Where are those people going to go? The bigger question is who do we help first?

Some military leaders are speaking out against these orders. We all know what happens when chaos ensues. It only takes one bullet to get it started. Democrats have taken over the House of Representatives; a Supreme Court Justice has rebuked the President’s attack on the Courts. The newly appointed Judge sat and under oath lie through his teeth, and the Press is doing what it can to keep the heat on this Administration. And this is just a small piece of the craziness.

So, let’s be honest.  Our country is in a big mess, and we’ve got some serious decisions to make.  I have to choose from pretending I don’t see the madness happening, and pick a side or pack it up and move with my husband to Sudan and post, from afar, about my freedom of speech rights on Twitter and Facebook.