Feed The Cold – Arrest the Patient

 

I have a real problem with the whole “let’s punish the whole world for the actions of a few” mindset. To my way of thinking this is the direct result of everyone’s paranoia of offending anyone. Singling out particular offenders would appear to be something we all fear. Heaven forbid that people be held accountable for their individual actions – it is so much easier to punish society in general.

You have a few girls who flaunt the length of shorts in schools and suddenly no one can wear them at all. Of course, no one thinks about addressing the fact that few girls today actually know how to sit in a dress without exposing their “Tuesdays.” I have been to more than a few band concerts where I felt I should blindfold Roger to keep him from agonizing guilt for viewing the entire flute section’s underpants.

Or, you have one schmuck who walks into a bank and robs it while wearing a ball cap and shades and suddenly one has to remember to remove all headgear before making a deposit. So, from this I guess we can determine hats and shades are not allowed, shoes are optional and guns mandatory.

I am the small town product of a time where my high school parking lot was full of pickup trucks. Inside almost every one of those pickup trucks was a gun rack and in each gun rack was very likely …..a GUN! On any given day there were probably dozens of firearms within walking distance of the door and yet no one ever dreamed of shooting up the school. In fact the worst casualty I remember was when Keith Park shot me in the calf of the leg with a B B gun. That hurt like a son of a gun!

Please don’t misunderstand me……I am not advocating the toting of side arms in the hallways of our schools. I really am more civilized than I sound - I’m just saying that society seems to evolve (or devolve) from the actions of a few nutcases.

For a while now I have been more than marginally hacked off at the meth cookers for more reasons than I can possible relate. However, I pretty much reached a “postal” frame of mind when my husband who suffers from chronic respiratory problems (admittedly exacerbated by his unwillingness to stop smoking) was denied his purchase of Claritin D. Really? Anyone should be able to look at both of us and tell we aren’t on meth – both of us are waaaay too round and we do still have our teeth.

Now, today I heard they are considering requiring a doctor’s prescription for purchasing over the counter cold medicine. Ooooookaaaaay, at long last the old adage that one won’t die from the common cold may finally be proven wrong. Seriously people, there are still loads of us with no health insurance, unemployed and still too young to qualify for Medicare and all its’ many benefits. Couple this with the fact that even getting in to see a physician requires a gun and a mask. So by the time you can see the doctor, you are already feeling better or dead so what would be the point?

With all the truly important things that lawmakers COULD be concentrating on they always seem to find the ability to misdirect their focus. What will happen when they start requiring an RX for cold remedys? Will this stop the meth kitchens? No. What WILL happen is only the meth makers will have the ingredients for their poison.

Because one thing has been proven over and over again, outlaw something and eventually only the outlaws will have it. And the rest of us will be forced into the streets under cover of darkness, trying to “score” some Robitussin from some poor rail thin, toothless man who smells vaguely of cat pee. And we will be paying him $50.00 to soothe our sore throats and put an end to our hacking cough. Of course the close proximity to a meth manufacturer might have some residual side effects that should be considered.

And now, I have to wonder – if this occurs to me, uneducated, unemployed and underachieving - why in the helicopter does it not cross the minds of those that are smugly sitting in the seats of authority? There is something so very wrong with this scenario.

I WOULD advise going out and stockpiling your cough syrup, but unfortunately they are keeping close records of who buys that stuff and how often so you won’t be able to prepare for the impending cold medication rationing. Oh well, it won’t matter much because none of us are going to be able to afford the gas to drive to Walgreens anyway.

….and how was your day? I would really like to know. lkbeshears@sbcglobal.net