Michael Moore: Thanks, but no thanks

I must admit that when I watched 'Sicko' about a year ago, I was intrigued. Michael Moore definitely grasped my attention and made me think about numerous issues in our country's health care system. I was appalled to watch people dumped on the sidewalk because hospitals were denying care, 9-11 heroes suffering from resulting untreated medical issues, and people dying simply because they cannot get necessary health care. The documentary was powerful, almost life changing. Careful not to completely jump the fence politically, I studied and informed myself at a basic level. Although I feel socialized medicine would be completely ideal in a perfect world, our government is currently in no place to carry out such an endeavor.

Thursday morning, I woke up my family at 6:30 to go to Ogden for a swine flu mass vaccine clinic. We arrived 45 minutes before the clinic was to start; already the line wrapped around the health department and down the street for 3 blocks. We decided to wait in line after putting in the effort to get to the clinic and knowing that we would have to wait again for similar clinics in the near future. After 3.5 hours, we were some of the last people to receive vaccine before the supply was depleted. Not only am I embarrassed that we waited in a line that long, but I am also worried about our future. Obviously, the swine flu has been overly hyped by both the government and the media. For most people, contracting the virus is simply miserable, but not life-threatening. Even so, I feel that if I have a means to protect my children, I will do so. The problem is that citizens were made promises that were not carried out. By mid-October, we were all told that vaccine would be available for those who wanted it. We are now approaching the end of October and few have had the opportunity to get the vaccine. Luckily, we are dealing with swine flu and not Ebola.

I felt ridiculous waiting in line for a vaccine. I felt like I was in communist Russia waiting in line for bread and eggs. The man behind us in line was trying to get his 18 month old son the injectable vaccine because he had a 3 day old baby at home. After waiting for 3 hours, he had to leave because only the Flumist remained. If our nation passes a national health care plan and we eventually all become at the mercy of the government, are we going to be waiting in these often fruitless breadlines for all of our health care needs?

Obviously our current system is NOT working. Statistics project that by the end of this year, 1 out of 5 people in Utah alone will be without health care benefits. This is completely unacceptable. Unfortunately I fear what the current proposed changes will bring to our society and our ability to receive the care that we all need. I just wish I knew how to solve the problem.

Red Badge of Crappiness

Okay, so I finally forced myself to finish The Red Badge of Courage...painful. I felt like I was in high school again being forced to read things I didn't want to read, or like I was in my early British lit course in college. Yuck. On to better things...

Next book, for those who want to read along, is Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros. I figure if it is anything similar to House on Mango Street, it will be a winner. However, I am not known for popular book club picks. The last time I picked a book for a book club, not one person liked it other than myself (My Antonia by Willa Cather - I still defend that pick...I thought it was a good book). Should we allow a month for people to read each selection? Your thoughts please.

Trashy

This afternoon I was forced to visit the nearest gas station after I ignored my gas light for a couple of days. (Wouldn't that be a little embarrassing to run out of gas picking Avery up from the school 1/2 a mile from our house). I decided to purchase the overpriced car wash (8.99? can that really be the going price) and began filling up the car. As I stood there, an old man probably in his mid 70's walked to the trash can and threw in a nice handful of trash. He walked away only to reappear seconds later. He proceeded to REACH INTO THE TRASH CAN and pull something back out. I stood there frozen thinking, "is this guy for real? who in their right mind would actually reach into a gas station garbage can???" I finished pumping the gas, took my receipt, and promptly threw it in the trash can. As I climbed in the car, I realized I needed that little receipt for my ever-so-pricey car wash. I slowly walked to the trash can, peered inside, and saw the discarded receipt. I stood there for a moment not sure what to do. The next thing I knew, I was reaching in and grabbing that insolent receipt. Don't judge. It was 9 bucks I rescued and in my defense, it was the cleanest gas station garbage can I have ever seen. I wonder if anyone saw me and thought about how disgusting I was for reaching in a trash can.

Book Club

Anyone up for an American Literature virtual book club? I chose this reading list as a basic guide...it seems to be a nice mix, although I did have to laugh at a few of the choices. The dilemma comes when I want to re-read some really great ones that are on this list (like Winesburg, Ohio), but should probably read ones I haven't read first. Argg. The first few I will be reading are Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, As I Lay Dying by Faulkner, The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, and hopefully I will finally get The Red Badge of Courage read (never can quite get into that one).

THE LIST (I know, the formatting is horrible)

Adams, Henry, The Education of Henry Adams in Novels

Ambrose, Stephen, Band of Brothers

Anderson, Sherwood, Winesburg, Ohio
Baldwin, James, Go Tell It on the Mountain,
Baldwin, James, If Beale Street Could Talk,
Bellamy, Edward, Looking Backward: 2000-1887,
Bellow, Saul, The Rain King,
Brown, Dee, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,
Cather, Willa, Death Comes for the Archbishop,
Cather, Willa, My Antonia,
Cather, Willa, O Pioneers!,
Cisneros, Sandra, Caramelo,

Clark, Walter Van T., The Ox-Bow Incident,
Conroy, Pat, Lords of Discipline,
Conroy, Pat, My Losing Season,

Cooper, James Fenimore, The Deerslayer,
Cooper, James Fenimore, The Last of the Mohicans,
Crane, Stephen, The Red Badge of Courage,
Doctorow, E.L., Ragtime,
Dorris, Michael, Yellow Raft in Blue Water,
Douglass, Frederick, Narrative of the Life of an American Slave,
Dreiser, Theodore, An American Tragedy,
Dreiser, Theodore, Sister Carrie,
DuBois, W.E.B., The Souls of Black Folk,
Ellison, Ralph, Invisible Man,
Faulkner, William, Absalom, Absalom!,
Faulkner, William, As I Lay Dying,

Faulkner, William, Intruder in the Dust,
Faulkner, William, The Sound and the Fury,
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, The Great Gatsby,
Frazier, Charles, Cold Mountain,
Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography,
Gaines, Ernest, Gathering of Old Men,
Grisham, John, A Painted House,
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, The Scarlet Letter,

Heller, Joseph, Catch 22,

Hemingway, Ernest, A Farewell to Arms,
Hemingway, Ernest, The Sun Also Rises,
Hemingway, Ernest, For Whom the Bell Tolls,
James, Henry, Portrait of a Lady,
James, Henry, The Turn of the Screw,
Kerouac, Jack, On the Road,

Kesey, Ken, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,

Kidd, Sue Monk, The Secret Life of Bees,

Kingsolver, Barbara, The Poisonwood Bible,
Kingston, Maxine Hong, The Woman Warrior,

Krakauer, Jon, Into Thin Air,

Krakauer, Jon, Into the Wild

Lewis, Sinclair, Arrowsmith,
Lewis, Sinclair, Babbitt

Lewis, Sinclair, Main Street,

Malamud, Bernard, The Assistant,

Malamud, Bernard, The Fixer,

Malamud, Bernard, The Natural,

Mason, Bobbie Anne, In Country,

McCarthy, Cormac, Crossing,

Melville, Herman, Moby-Dick,
Miller, Arthur, Death of a Salesman,
Mitchell, Margaret, Gone With the Wind,
Morrison, Toni, Sula,
Morrison, Toni, Beloved,
Morrison, Toni, Song of Solomon,

Neihardt, John G., Black Elk Speaks,
Nordhoff and Hall, Bounty Trilogy,

Norris, Frank, The Octopus,
O'Brien, Tim, Going After Cacciato: A Novel,
O'Brien, Tim, Things They Carried
O'Connor, Flannery, Three (Everything That Rises Must Converge),
O'Connor, Flannery, Collected Works (A Good Man is Hard to Find),

O'Neill, Eugene, Long Day's Journey Into Night,

Picoult, Jodi, Salem Falls,
Rand, Ayn, The Fountainhead,

Rees, Celia, Witch Child,
Robinson, Marilynne, Gilead,
Rolvaag, O.E., Giants in the Earth,
Russo, Empire Falls,
Salinger, J.D., The Catcher in the Rye,

Schlosser, Eric, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal,

Shaara, Michael, Killer Angels,

Sinclair, Upton, The Jungle,

Smiley, Jane, A Thousand Acres,

Steinbeck, John, East of Eden,
Steinbeck, John, The Grapes of Wrath,

Steinbeck, John, In Dubious Battle,

Steinbeck, John, Sweet Thursday,

Steinbeck, John, To a God Unknown,

Steinbeck, John, The Winter of Our Discontent,

Stone, Irving, Love is Eternal
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, Uncle Tom's Cabin,

Tan, Amy, Joy Luck Club,
Thoreau, Henry, Walden,

Thoreau, Henry, Civil Disobedience,
Twain, Mark, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,
Tyler, Anne, Accidental Tourist,
Uhry, Alfred, Driving Miss Daisy,
Updike, John, Rabbit, Run,

Vonnegut, Kurt, Cat's Cradle,

Vonnegut, Kurt, Slaughterhouse Five,

Walker, Alice, The Color Purple,

Walls, Jeannette, The Glass Castle: a memoir,

Warren, Robert, All the King's Men,
Welch, James, Fools Crow,
West, Nathaniel, Miss Lonelyhearts,

Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence,

Wharton, Edith, Ethan Frome,

Wideman, John Edgar, Philadelphia Fire,
Williams, Tennessee, The Glass Menagerie

Wolfe, Thomas, Look Homeward Angel,

Wolfe, Thomas, You Can't Go Home Again,
Wright, Richard, Black Boy
Wright, Richard, Native Son,