Politics are Depressing; But God Still Reigns

Is it just me, or do politics in general just no seem worth our attention anymore? It seems that any time I read anything from either the right or the left side of the spectrum, I leave feeling depressed and unsure. That's not a happy feeling for someone who generally goes through life with the optimistic belief that everything will turn out all right in the end and things are never as bad as they seem.

But things seems pretty bad now. The War in Iraq, the War on Terror, this bickering on both sides. It's hard to know where I stand politically because right now I can't agree with either party and neither represents me.

It's hard, because I want know where to stand politically. I want to know what to believe and to know that I am right. But life is not so simple, and it's difficult to pin down absolutes when it comes to political and social issues.

I could become apathetic. I once heard somewhere that pessimists should be the happiest people in the world because they are never disappointed and often pleasantly surprised.

But do I really want to go through my life a cynic? Allow myself to become bitter because I continue to be disappointed by frailty of human nature?

No, I believe the feeling of discontentment I'm experiencing is coming from a higher power all together, who is gently urging me not to seek security in the institutions of man, but in the constancy of his power. Not to rely on the counsel of men, but to lean on his truth.

God will do what he can to strip the illusions from the eyes of his children see they can see their need of him. C. S. Lewis puts it much better than I can:

"I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen
and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. As first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ."

My hope is built on Jesus Christ. And through him alone can I have the assurance that everything will turn out right in the end.

Asian Television

In case my friends back home were worried that I would become too cool for them now that I live in the Big City (or in a smaller city outside the Big City), rest assured.

("Whew!" says Friend From Back Home, "I was so worried!")

I am still the same lovable dork Me that I've always been. Except now I'm a lovable dork Me who is addicted to AZN, the cable channel dedicated to Asian Americans! It all started when I was flipping through the channels, bored, with nothing to entertain me, when I saw a show with Korean people wearing period outfits.

"Wow," I thought, "Those are Korean people wearing period outfits. This show must be good!"

Even better was that fact that there were convenient subtitles on the screen, so I didn't have to make up my own dialogue like I had to back when I watched Spanish soap operas (don't judge me!). Before I knew it, I was sucked into a plot filled with intrigue and deception, and I was hooked. Then my husband came home.

"What are you watching?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Um ... I don't know the title of the show, because I can't read Korean," I said. "But ...!" I then began telling him the whole plot of the series.

Taylor, like most people, watches T.V. in a vegetative state, so he found it hard to understand why I would enjoy watching a show with subtitles. It was too much like ... reading ... He can understand why I like to read, but actively watching a show with subtitles seemed to be crossing too many barriers. Reading is a smart, healthy thing to do. T.V. is a lazy, stupid thing to do, and ne're the two shall meet.

Like most wives, I agreed with him and then secretly resolved to do exactly I wanted, and so I've kept watching. Only now I fear that the period drama is a gateway drug, because now I'm watching more and more AZN shows. First there was Asia Street Comedy (The title itself is enough to make me laugh.), now I've started watching Anime.

But it's no big deal. I can quit anytime I want. But not right now, my show's back on.

Napster is killing my jokes!

Okay, so in my previous post I had to click on a link entitled "where do they all come from?" which was supposed to lead you to the song "We Only Come Out at Night." by the Smashing Pumpkins, but Napster's supposed "share link" is dumb. Which is why I buy my music from iTunes.

Working at Brooks

Being a person who enjoys observing people and commenting on the aspects of human nature, working at Brooks Pharmacys has provided ample opportunities to feed my habits. In fact, too ample. So ample I'm not sure even where to begin my rant. Perhaps a little background on my store would help.

First, the average pharmacy processes between 300-500 scripts (that's pharmacy speak for prescription) a week, while it is common for our pharmacy to do over 300 in one day. Needless to say, that's a lot of time spent filling pill bottles and a LOT of potentially angry customers.

Second, due the nature of pharmicutical work, which is giving medicine to sick people, every customer is angry. They're mad at the tiny germs causing their illness, they're mad at their doctors, mad at their insurance agencies, and they're mad at me, the pharmacy tech, because I am the bearer of bad news about their doctors and insurance companies, and plus I take a long time to count pills. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed I can't help but wonder where do these people come from?

It probably doesn't help that our store is right across the street from a three-story tall Public Housing that holds all the senior citizens in Quincy. I think the highlight of their day is to come to Brooks with their fifty prescriptions and tell me about every ill that's occuring in their life. I think it might be the white lab coats, but for some reason customers love telling us about every single bodily function they have. It's ironic, because HIPPA is very stern about pharmacies not revealing patients' medical information, but the patients themselves announce to the whole store that they're about to have a colonoscopy.

The old folks really aren't that bad. The ones who really stir up trouble are the people on the state's health care plan. Now, Mass Health covers almost everything, and most medications only cost the patient between $1-$3 if they are not free. But you would not believe how many people tell me they don't have any money to pay for their meds. I had this one lady come in chowing down on a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice creams, which as you know is not cheap.

"I don't have no money for my medicine," she said, smacking her lips. "Just put it on my tab."
"Um, okay." I said. Brooks, doesn't deny anyone medicine it they can't afford it. So, a very complicated system was developed to allow someone to take their medicine home and then come back and pay for it later. But, technically there's no "tab" because we aren't the Down Home Country Store. Pharmacist Jonathan decides to try to explain that to the customer.

"Actually, m'am, we don't have a tab. You have to pay for your medicine."

She sets down her ice cream, the glint in the eye revealing a readiness for battle. "Oh, yes you do! I know because I've done it before!"

Jonathan continued "I know, but you have to pay for it. I can give it to you, but you have to come back and pay for it when you've have the money." I didn't mention it to Jonathan, but to most people that's what a "tab" means.

The customer picked up her ice cream, and resumed smacking. "Oh, I know that, I just don't have the money right now. But I'll pay for it later."

Satisfied, Jonathan left, and I was torn between saying "Yeah, right" and "You know, if you hadn't spend the $4 buying that expensive ice cream I bet you would've had the $3 to pay for your medicine." But you can't reason with someone who feels entitled to both ice cream and free meds, and to do so would have probably resulted in me wearing Ben & Jerry's for the rest of my shift.

While I enjoy observing human folly, I don't particularly enjoy participating in it. However, working in the pharmacy has shown me a whole spectrum of people and attitudes which makes me think about our society. In general, I'm against government handouts, because like Ben & Jerry's lady clear demonstrates, they're often abused. But what about nice old lady from across the street who is one fifty different scripts - she honestly can't afford them. How do we balance personal responsibility with community responsibility? It's a question I've been struggling with a lot here in Tax-achussetts, and one that won't be easily answered in one essay.

As for the question about why Brook's customers are the way they are, the answer is simple. People are weird. And that's about all you can say.

The Joys of Government Service

Today I went to the Regsiter of Motor Vehicles today, foolishly believing that I was completely prepared to prove that Arkansas didn't screw up and I am who I really say I am. But alas, it turns out they say they want four documents that can verify your name, residency, birthday, and signature, it means they want one for each of those catergories - sorry, no double dipping. So although my driver's license clearly had my signature and birthdate, it could only be used for one. Although my lease has my name on it, it didn't have my signature ( my landlord has my signed copy) therefore it wasn't valid. Did I have a checkbook with my address? Of course, just not with me at the time. I wasn't sure why my checkbook was more valid than my lease, but whatever. I tried to be polite to the RMV lady, but the idiocy of the whole system made me furious. As Taylor walked me to the car, and I was shouting about the stupidity of beaucracies and scaring young children.

Still seething, I then went to work at the Pharmacy in Brooks. And there, I recieved back just what I gave. The funny thing about insurance cards, if you have to have them with you if you want to use insurance to pay for your meds. I delt with demanding customers all night long, who, in the words of one pharmacist, "only their meds now, and free ... what's wrong with that?"

I was about to complain about this as well, when it struck me that the lady at the RMV was probably as frustrated by me as I was by my customers at the pharmacy. That's when I realized that all customers are stupid. Including myself.

But seriously, I think God might have been trying to teach me a lesson. The first is that I am not always in the right in every situation. The second, is that I might get frustrated by my government, but at least I live with a government that allows me to write about this in a public forum, unlike in China where the Internet is screened. At least I have the oppurtunity to drive, unlike in many Middle Eastern countries where women are denied that priviledge. So it may be stupid, but it's a whole lot better than others out there, and I have the oppurtunty help make a change by being allowed to vote. Which I'll do, as soon as I get my voter's registration taken care of, which will happen when I collect four forms of ID. Which will happen with the State of Texas gets around to mailing me a copy of my marriage license. And thus the cycle continues. But not how I react.

Someone Clearly Doesn't Know How to Format Blogger

I admit it, it's true. But I also don't care enough to fix it. And that's the level of excellance you can expect here on Southern Girl Northern Bound!

Fun at Faxon Park!

So, this Labor Day Taylor and I spent the day doing a quest in the lovely Faxton Park in Quincy. I was alway curious about the point of Labor Day. After all, it's name implies that we are celebrating labor, and yet the majority of working people get Labor Day off. So I looked it up on wikipedia.com, and it turns out, there really is no point to Labor Day. So there you go.

Anyway, Taylor and I celebrated our break from Labor by going to Faxton Park and doing a "quest" created by a Girl Scout Troop like ten years ago. Now, the park changed a bit in ten years, so we had some difficulty navigating directions like "look for the dead tree" when the dead tree was gone. But we still succeeded, discovering all the clues and formed the cryptic message "STONE CAVE." I was really hoping to find a cave in the park, but alas, there was none. Anyway, for those of you who care, here are some pictures of our adventure.

Our first clue was to look out for the sea. This is a view of the Boston Harbor. I think. I'm still not very clear on my geography.










Our Quest was momentarily inturrupted when Taylor ran into this guy polishing his old antique car thing. He could tell you what it is, but I didn't really car. The owner was funny though. He drove all the way to Faxon Park for the mere purpose of polishing his car in the shade. In other words, he came all the way to Faxton Park to show it off to other car enthusiasts like my husband, who was suckered in like a lolipop in the mouth of a toddler.




A clue, a clue! Sit on the bench and try to look through the thick over-grown trees at a giant triangular rock!










The Giant Triangular Rock. Or Boulder. The Girl Scouts said rock, but I would have said boulder.

These are the boxes we had to fill with letter in order to decode the secrect message. Some of the letters were so difficult to find, I kept hoping these guys would show up to help us, but I guess they were too busy hanging out on Nick Jr.

I have more pictures, but Blogger is starting to freak out so I better let off. Anyway, Faxton Park is absolutely beautiful, and just another neat part of the city that's now my home.

And You Thought Global Warming was a Big Deal

Never mind that. According to a couple more scientists, the sun has been growing brighter since its infancy, and the Earth makes adjustments to compensate for the extra energy it's recieving. But it's all for not anyway, because the world is still going to end.

The End is Near - Al Gore is on T.V.!

Did you see that propaganda piece on ABC about the "Top Ten Ways TheWorld Will End (And it's Your Fault!)" that was on a couple nights ago?In case you missed it, do you know what we're most likely to die from? Not nuclear winter, not biological disease, but GLOBAL WARMING! The horror! And it was horrible. They literally took footage from Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." Then, wonder of wonders, the man himself was there, talking about how there is no debate, global warming is real, and those who disagree are fringe extremists brainwashed by corporate giants. The whole time the interviewer stood there, eyes wide, lips parted, taking in every word he said. "Oh really Al? Can it be true? Oh, take me know before the world ends (just don't tell Tipper)!" And in case you want to know about what the other side does think, don't bother. The two scientists (sorry Al, that's doesn't include you) basically said anyone who disagrees with the idea of man-caused global warming are the equivalent of Holocaust Deniers. During this sound bite they flashed images of basically every Fox New Personality available. I half expected to see a graphic pull up that said "Sean Hannity = Mahmoud Ahmadinejad." Except the media tends to like that crazy lil' Iranian leader and his Hezbollah band of social aid workers. While I'm not really surprised to find the other side trying to push me into the camp of skin heads and Nazis (after all, I DO oppose increasing the minimum wage), I do find it kind of odd that it resulted over global warming. Somehow the moral equivalency is lost on me.

Believe me, I'm not the only one struck by the comparison. Just poke around on Google and you'll find others who think Gore's being just a little extreme.

The Volokh Conspiracy

Anthony L. Hall

My personal favorite.

And still others who are willing to make the most of it.

Deniers have been smeared before.