Are You A Burden?

This morning's Edmonton Sun had a great editorial about "pansies" being a burden to our health care system. So many people complain about smokers and fat people being a burden to the system, but do those complainers ever stop and question whether they are a burden themselves? The writer points out that the "E" in "ER" stands for "Emergency" and that far too often, the people filling the chairs in the waiting room do not constitute an emergency. You are not going to die from a sore throat, an ear infection, a bout of diarrhea or even a herpes outbreak.

I was raised to believe that unless it's broken or severely bleeding, time will heal just about anything. My parents never took me to the doctor if I had fever, upset stomach, a cold or some other common malady. I was taught to tough it out and that rest and plenty of fluids would be the simplest cure. I can count on one hand the number of times I have been to the ER. My first trip was after my bike accident and I had head x-rays done to rule out a concussion or skull fracture. The next trip happened when I was twelve and needed stitches in my lip, after my sister kicked me in the head while we were double ski-biscuiting. I've also been in twice for when my chest pains won't go away and I need something to just relax my body and knock me out (one of those times was on our honeymoon). I have had the flu more time than I can count in the past three years. As badly as I've wanted to go the hospital (moreso for a shot to just euthanize me and put me out of my misery than to receive any kind of actual treatment), I never go. I just ride it out.

There is a person in my life who everytime an ankle is turned, he wants to go get it checked out and plays it up like it's the end of the world. Any type of injury is cause for a dramatic display of how much pain is being felt and how much he is suffering. But recoveries are miraculous. As soon as he thinks no one is watching, that sprained ankle suddenly doesn't cause the slightest amount of discomfort. This person has learned that he will not be taken to the doctor by his parents for a runny nose, a headache or an ear ache. Alas, he has also learned that a quick phone call to grandma and grandpa will just about result in an ambulance being dispatched to his house and the grandparents will shoot disapproving looks towards the parents for allowing this poor soul to suffer as long as he has. This person (and the grandparents) are definite burdens to the system. On a side note, because the above-mentioned person constantly has one illness or another, it has been pointed out to him that it is tough to distinguish cries of attention from a real illness. He has been referred to the story of "The Boy Who Cries Wolf" many a time. The parents lost sympathy for these constant aches and illnesses a few years back.