Ah, the United States of America, the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave." That may have been true when the country was young and growing but now we should be called the "Land of Instant Gratification and the Home of the People who Need it Now."
I lay some of the blame on advertisers. They paint a masterpiece of life where everyone should have large houses, expensive vehicles, fabulous jewelry, and designer clothing/fragrances, etc. This is reinforced by music videos, television shows, and retailers everywhere.
Live the American Dream.......where all your wounds are healed with a magic little pill, where healthcare is only an emergency room visit away, where food is readily available for purchase (whether you cook it or someone else cooks it for you), where the shopping mall has become a right of passage from youth to "responsible" consumer, where the internet allows you to put up your selfish "I am better than you" blog......
Your Reality Check Bounced!!! A Pill Will Not Fix Everything Immediately!!
Colds do not miraculously disappear because you dropped a couple of fizzy tablets in water and drank it. Viruses work on their schedule, not yours. Better get some tissue and wipe the snot off your disappointed little face.
Diabetes does not go away because you take insulin injections and pills. Perhaps you should use some of the dietary recommendations from the physician you so seldom see.
High blood pressure does not magically disappear because you take a few pills sometimes because you just can't remember to take them everyday. It is not called the "Silent Killer" for nothing. High blood pressure has severe, many times fatal, consequences if left to run rampant. Perhaps you should start some regular cardio like your physician told you to, and don't forget those dietary recommendations you dismissed as quackery.
Genital herpes does not ever go away. These lesions will pop up whenever the virus feels like reactivating. The pills you get for outbreaks do not kill the virus, they just give it the chemical equivalent of a cat nap. So use condoms because you can still pass it on even if you are taking pills. Who knows what your sex partner is not telling you.....
Oh, no. Your partner didn't tell you he/she has HIV. It can also be passed even while the infected is on a regular treatment regimen. Better rethink getting that prostidude you ordered from the back of a bar magazine. I guarantee they have a few little secrets you will not be told but find out about later. If you think they haven't been playing hide the salami with a lot of people you are dead wrong. Just what do you think that prostidude does when he is with other clients. I guarantee they are not playing Yahtzee.
My teeth/leg/back/neck/spine/nerves hurt (you pick the pain). I need Vicodin/Tylenol with codeine/Percocet/Roxicodone/Oxycontin (you pick the drug). Pain management meds make you feel good, so you take a couple more, then you take a couple more, then you take a couple more, then the bottle is empty. You have to call your doctor but he says you don't need it anymore so you find another doctor. You take a couple pills, you feel good, so you take a couple more, then you take a couple more, then you take a couple more, then the bottle is empty. You have to call the new doctor but he says you don't need it anymore so you find an unscrupulous pain management doctor that will write for anything you want for a small fee, of course. (No offense to legitimate Pain Management physicians, but you need to police your peers because they are making all of you look like the devil incarnate.) Caveat Emptor (buyer beware), you get what you pay for and you may lose every little speck of that American Dream you used to believe and your humanity. Hell, you may even end up like the aforementioned prostidude, but instead of sucking dicks to pay your bills you will be sucking dicks to get pills.
The moral of the story is a recurring theme: Take care of yourself. This body was given to you at birth and will be yours until death. No doctor, nurse, pharmacist, or medicine will make you a masterpiece of human health. You have to take care of your body like a precision driving machine. It needs lots of maintenance and the proper fuel to run smoothly. Any excuses and neglect will lead to a breakdown that may or may not be salvageable.
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7 comments:
You are soooo right on. In my opinion the decline of our society coincided with the invention of the microwave. Think about it...the birthplace of instant gratification.
"Better rethink getting that prostitute you ordered from the back of a bar magazine."
....good thing I get mine from Craigslist.
Wait, are you saying that my blog is not better than yours? I feel so depressed now. I'm going to call my doc so I can get that new feel-good pill that was on Oprah a couple days ago.
But seriously, this is dead-on with regards to our society. It seems that there are very few who want to actually work to achieve their goals. Be it in a pill, a lottery ticket, a lawsuit- there's always an easier way than actual work and taking care of yourself.
I truly believe that people are not interested in hearing what will really solve their problems. Can't breathe? Quit smoking. Diabetes? Eat better, check your sugars. Hypertension? Cut down on that salt and get some exercise. High cholesterol? Put down that Big Mac and go for a walk. Too fat? Eat less, exercise more.
My favorite are the people on 20+ meds who say "I just hate taking pills". Apparantly, you LOVE taking pills. If you hated it, you'd do something proactive to improve your health instead of waiting for your doctor to throw meds at you. You are still smoking/drinking/eating like a pig/being sedentary/staying in a sucky relationship. No wonder you have COPD/fatty liver/obesity/syndrome X/depression/anxiety.
I believe that if they discovered you could put diabetes into remission by eating 3 salads a day, no one would do it. It's easier to take pills with your cake.
In reply to Jo:
I'm thinking further back than the microwave for the start of the instant gratification movement.
No, I'm blaming it on air conditioning. Think about it, before a/c what did you do when you got hot? You sat in one spot, probably on the porch and cooled yourself with a fan while talking with a friend, neighbor, or family member.
You stayed STILL. Life was not rushing to cool you or amuse you. You HAD to stay still in order to not overheat.
Yet people were still thin. Why? Because inside the house was an oven during the day. You played, worked, communed with others, and performed any other tasks OUTSIDE. And when the heat got too much for you, you sat down in the shade and stayed there.
Now, no one leaves their house except to sit in a car & run through the drive-thru. It's nice and cool in the house so why leave the tv/internet/gaming system to go outside? Why would I want to sit around in the shade and do nothing when I can be constantly barraged by my throng of electronic items vying for my attention inside my 60 degree house?
Yep, a/c was the beginning of both obesity and the instant gratification movement....
Guess you're right. I spent an afternoon with an acquaintance that admitted to allowing her glassy eyed, slack jawed, chubby children to play video games for seven hours a day. Wouldn't have been possible without the miracle of A/C (it's currently 100f outside). My son thinks I'm mean for not buying a Wii (or whatever the hell it's called). Poor guy--he has to "buy" cartoon and computer time by reading. My typical response is, "when you are an adult, you can complain about it to your therapist".
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