Stand and Be Proud

I went to the high school on Thursday to watch a play that was being put on by the sophomores. The play was "Kilroy Was Here" and it was quite entertaining. The kids did a great job with the acting and the songs they sang were wonderful. The audience was made up mostly of middle school kids and their teachers with a few parents scattered throughout, and all of the kids were behaving respectfully. It was really nice.

During the final number the entire cast was singing a song and about halfway through it military flags were lowered from the stage ceiling; one for each branch of the U.S. military. Cast members invited audience members to stand if they'd like to honor someone who had served or is serving in the different branches as each branch was called in turn. I stood for the army and the navy as I have relatives and friends who've served in each. Others in the audience stood, too, as each branch was named.

Then something happened that made me sad. The audience was invited, by the cast, to join them in singing America the Beautiful. I, along with about five other adults, stood up during the singing of the song. Dolly was there with me, as was Ty since his class was also part of the audience. They stood with me because I told them standing was the proper thing to do, but other than us and the few other adults, not one other person stood during the song. 

Furthermore, very few of the adults were singing and none, I repeat, NONE of the kids knew any of the words to the song. Not one of them. They were all looking around at those of us who were standing and singing and they were snickering and whispering as if we were doing something wrong. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this scenario or is it just me?

I learned The Star-Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful and God Bless America when I was in grade school. Wrongly, I assumed my kids would have learned them, too, and was surprised when they didn't know the words. How come kids today don't know these songs? Even if they don't know all the words, how come they don't know to stand and remove their hats during the singing of a patriotic song? At a field day toward the end of the school year the national anthem was played and while everyone rose - because it was requested over the loud speakers - I saw only three people remove their baseball caps while the rest just continued to wear them - children and adults alike.

I know everything may not be perfect in this country right now, and it probably never will be, but it makes me sick to think that children are no longer being taught in schools to be patriotic about the country in which they live, and to be proud of the military that fights for the freedoms we're afforded. I do what I can at home but if I knew the schools had opted out of teaching even the basic patriotic songs I'd have taught them to my kids on my own.

I guess everyone is too worried about offending people that come here from other countries and stepping on their feelings by teaching these time-honored songs to children in school. It's either that or the common core crap has taken over to the point that the government doesn't even think kids need to learn them. When I was in school not only did we learn the songs but we sang them, along with other songs, during school concert presentations.

Not only do we need to stop worrying about offending immigrants but we also need to stop turning our children into the test-taking machines that common core requires and spend a little more time teaching all children to be proud of where they live, whether they were born here or not. Without the liberties that we have in the United States these kids might not have the right to an education at all. We need to make sure they know that, and that they're proud to be Americans. I know I am, and I'll definitely make sure my kids are.

Until next time... peace to all.

Oh, You're Poor? Sorry, You Don't Count

We poor people don't matter; we don't count in the grand scheme of health care professionals. You know why? Because we're POOR!! I know that for a fact, and I'll tell you why.

At the beginning of the month I posted about not being able to find a dentist that would fill a hole in my tooth. Remember? I have very little insurance coverage so it took me a week and numerous phone calls to finally get someone to look at my tooth and fix it. As it turned out, when I went to the dentist, I didn't have a hole in my tooth. She said it was nothing a good cleaning couldn't fix. Great! My insurance - Healthcare USA, issued by the State - covers x-rays and a cleaning at no cost to me. I made an appointment for today to return and have the cleaning done.

Between my initial appointment and today I made a few other phone calls to different dentists, ones that were a little closer in distance, to see if I could make the appointment with one of them and save myself the cost of gas. I don't remember how many places I called but every receptionist told me that they only take government insurance for kids and pregnant women. Huh? That doesn't make any sense but, whatever. So I kept my original appointment.

When I made the appointment I told the lady at the desk about my insurance. She 'okay'ed me. When I called yesterday to confirm the appointment I told her again about my insurance. She 'okay'ed me again and confirmed the appointment. All was well and I was getting the services recommended by the dentist.

I got up this morning, got gas, and drove across town to the dentist. I walked in, signed in and handed the receptionist my insurance card. She and the other woman behind the desk looked at my insurance card and asked if the appointment was for me. "Yes, it's for me. Why?" "Oh, we don't take this insurance for adults, only for kids." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

I told them about my insurance twice and was 'okay'ed twice. As soon as I walk in they tell me they don't accept my insurance? I was ANGRY!! I looked directly at the lady holding my card, snatched it out of her hand, looked at the other lady, held my temper and said, "I guess if you don't have money you're not allowed to get dental care." Then I turned and walked out leaving them both standing there staring at me with their mouths agape.

 My kids and I all have the exact same insurance. I'm allowed to keep them healthy, but I'm not allowed to keep myself healthy. I can take my kids to the doctor to get any medical services needed, at no cost to me. I can take them to the dentist and get any dental services needed at no cost to me. I can get medical for myself, for the time being, but I can't get any dental services for myself. Once my ex starts paying child support again I won't even qualify for insurance at all so I won't have medical at that point either. I'll have to go back to the clinic and pay on a sliding scale. If I don't have the $25 in hand, I won't be seen by a doctor. The dentist at that clinic has a $40 up-front cost before I can be seen. A lot of poor people, like me, don't always have cash lying around because we're too busy paying bills and raising kids.

You'd think that people who decide to become dentists and doctors would actually give a shit about all people, not just the select few who can afford insurance coverage with cash left over to make the co-pays. Apparently they don't, though. With the exception of a very few, most doctors and dentists don't care about anyone who doesn't walk through the door with an insurance policy that will pay them $300 or more for a 20-minute visit/procedure. I know for a fact that they won't provide preventive services to any not-pregnant adult who can't pay, even if that person has insurance to cover the cost of said preventive treatment. Seems like the professionals are just focused on the money and kickbacks they receive from insurance and pharmaceutical companies. They don't really care about keeping poor people healthy regardless of what they tell you.

I'm so tired of having doctors and dentists tell me that I can't be seen because I don't have the right insurance coverage and no cash in the bank. As far as I'm concerned they're just a bunch of greedy, prejudicial assholes who work for themselves and don't give a shit about anyone who doesn't have thousands of dollars on hand. If they want me to believe they do care they can change their policies; maybe then I'll change my opinion of them. I highly doubt that will happen, though. The way I see it, they all suck, but because I'm poor, my opinion, much like myself, probably doesn't matter to them.

Until next time... peace to all.

Gotta Remember Not To Forget

Friday. House cleaning day. I put my cleaning music playlist on my phone, stick the ear buds in my ears and clean in peace while the kids are in school. I sing, dance and just have a good time doing my chores. While I was cleaning the upstairs bathroom I remembered that I needed something from Dollar General and told myself I'd get it later in the day. I kept cleaning.

I did the upstairs bathroom, the downstairs bathroom, started on the kitchen, accidentally got locked in the basement when my tool kit, which sits behind the basement door, fell over and blocked the door shut. I could only open the door about six inches and had to, quite literally, squeeze, twist and wiggle to get myself through the small opening. I did it, all was well. I continued cleaning.

I got the kitchen done, then the living room and finally got to take my shower. I came back downstairs just as the boys were walking in from summer school. My chores were finished. I did have to make a trip to the smoke shop because my lighter was almost out but it wasn't urgent so I sat on the sofa, chatted with Ty and Zach and just relaxed a bit. Then I remembered that I needed something from Dollar General. Oh shit!! What was it?

I knew that I needed toilet cleaner but that was in the dollar aisle so that wasn't it. I knew it wasn't because when I thought of the other thing the first time I remember telling myself that the item was about $3. CRAP!! What the fuck was it that I needed? Grrr...

My friend Marty tried giving me suggestions over Skype messaging but he didn't hit on it because he wasn't suggesting cleaning supplies. I went over my steps of cleaning the upstairs bathroom to see if that sparked my memory. I was cleaning the vanity... what was it? Spray cleaner? No, I have plenty of that. Not soap. Not shampoo. Not sponges. FUCK!!! I figured I'd just walk the store until I remembered so I asked Ty if he wanted to walk to the store with me and we headed out the door.

We got to Dollar General and I was mentally going through my list picking up the stuff I knew I needed - toilet cleaner times two, scented candles, tape, smokes and a lighter, but what was that other thing? It's not difficult to remember something that I need that I use all the time, especially when I'm cleaning. That's why I need it because we've been out for a while. Shit!! I couldn't remember and nothing on the shelves of cleaning supplies gave me any hint so Ty and I just headed to the register.

The cashier was ringing up my items and an older woman was putting hers on the counter behind mine. Just as the cashier finished ringing up my stuff and I ran my card through the machine I just glanced at the woman's purchases and burst out laughing. She had two rolls of aluminum foil. Fuck me!! That's what I needed. Yep, it was foil. REALLY!!?? You remind me as I'm leaving? Oh well, too bad. I'll go back to the store another day. A line had formed behind me and I wasn't about to wait on it for a roll of foil.

I know, foil has nothing to do with cleaning and why I thought of it while I was cleaning the bathroom I have no idea. I guess next time I'm cleaning and remember that I need something I'll either write it down or make a mental note that it has to do with cooking and not cleaning. Maybe that'll make it easier to jar my memory. If not, I'll just walk the store again but instead of scanning the shelves, I'll scan what other people are buying. If I get lucky one of them will have what I've forgotten. :)

Until next time... peace to all.

If You Don't Ask, They Won't Tell

I'm wondering how people work these days when they don't know how to do their jobs, or rather, when they don't have all the information needed to properly help a client. I just spent the week talking to seven different people at four different agencies to get information to solve the same exact problem. Only three of those people had any real information that could help me.

I woke up Monday morning with a hole in one of my teeth and it needs to be filled. I called the main office of the clinic I use for medical reasons because they have dental care also, and they're income-based so it's inexpensive. I asked if my local clinic had dental or if I'd have to go into Kansas City to have the work done. My local clinic does provide dental care but only on Thursdays and Fridays and none of the locations are taking new appointments unless I want to schedule one for September. I was told I could go on Thursday as a walk-in client and wait to find out if the dentist could see me. Okay, I could do that. I did, and that's where it all started.

They open at 8:30 so I arrived a little after 8:00 with a few people already there. When the doors opened we all found out that they only take three walk-ins a day and there were four people ahead of me - basically I was shit out of luck. I went home and complained to the main office because I wasn't told on Monday that I needed to be there at 6:00 in the morning to even have a chance of getting seen. The girl I spoke with apologized and referred me to Clinic B. That place is also income-based but they were still going to charge me $70 to do the work. Fuck that!!

Clinic B lady referred me to Agency C where the director is a friend of mine. Nice. I felt better. I called and the #1 prompt sent me to Director's voice mail where his message said he couldn't return phone calls but the receptionist would and she'd answer any questions. I left Recept a message but never got a call back from her. I had to call her back later in the day. I told her the problem but she said the only thing they could do was extract my tooth because that's all the agency supplying the funds would cover. I was in tears. Why do I need to have a tooth pulled when it would be easier to just fill it?

Recept referred me directly to the agency that supplies the funds and said maybe they could send me to a place that could help. I called. Fund lady listened patiently as I explained, through my tears and squeaky voice, what the problem is and then she replied that her agency doesn't only pay for extractions, that they'll pay for whatever work needs to be done. Fund lady told me to call Agency C back again and speak to Director, she mentioned him by name so I told her that I've known him for eight years. She said he'd be the one to speak with because he's the one who issues the dental vouchers and that he'd refer me to one of the clinics they fund, one of them being Clinic B. WOW!! A BIG sigh of relief from me. I thanked her profusely and called Agency C back again and left Director a voice mail that I'd be seeing him this morning.

The main phone message at Agency C says that they open at 8:00 so I was there a few minutes after that. Recept was there and I told her what I needed, and I mentioned that I'd like to get the voucher to Clinic B since it was close to home. She told me they don't work with Clinic B and that Director didn't arrive at work until 9:00. FUCK!!! I'm wasting gas driving all over town because nobody will give me all the information I need. I left because I had another errand I could run and returned a little after 9:00. I got to speak with Recept - again. I repeated the problem for the third time to her and, again, she told me that they only do extractions. Um, no, I spoke with Fund lady yesterday and she said they'll pay for whatever work needs to be done.

Recept actually looked at me like I had two heads and left to go speak to Director to make sure I wasn't bullshitting her. HAH!! I'm right, you're wrong!! She came back looking all ashamed and allowed me to complete the necessary paperwork. I wonder how many other people Recept turned away in the past who didn't get the dental care they needed because she doesn't know what's what. A lot of those people probably weren't told to call Fund lady, either. Anyway, I waited for about 45 minutes before Director called me into his office to do whatever he needed to do to print my dental voucher. I asked and, yes, they do work with Clinic B - I was right again, Recept - but he was sending me to an even closer place. YAY!!

I came home to make the appointment and even the receptionist at the dental office didn't know that Fund lady's agency would pay for something other than pulling my tooth. She was very polite and excited to make the appointment for me but was really surprised when I gave her that little tidbit of information. She smiled through the phone and said she'd see me Monday morning at 9:15. I've never been so excited to see a dentist in my life. I can't wait.

Here's a little tip. If you need something done for yourself, make sure you ask every question possible to get all the information up front; I don't care how long you have to keep the person on the phone. All the referrals I got yesterday were because I asked each person I spoke with to refer me to someone who could help, not because they offered - none of them but Fund lady, anyway. Unfortunately, not all the people I spoke with had correct information, nor did they offer what they did know, but that's my fault because I didn't ask enough questions. You can bet, though, that from now on I will. I'll ask so many questions people will start volunteering information just to get me to stop talking. And if you know me at all, you know I'll make that happen. :)

Until next time... peace to all.