Giving (edit: 2 posts for 1!)

A cool thing happened today.

For the past month my upstairs neighbor has been scraping to get by due to recently being laid off. He is a nice man and appears to always be looking for a job or walking somewhere to investigate opportunities (he has no car). I truly believe he has come under hard times because of a stumbling economy and a lack of skilled training.

It appears many are having the same trouble.

Anyhow, my girlfriend and I have been occasionally providing him with tomatoes from our potted plants, bread, a few dollars, meat, and an occasional brew (essential during a down time!).

So today I was headed up there to give him a few of the aforementioned items when I was caught by another neighbor as I exited my apartment. This neighbor, an old woman with an accent of some sort, and her husband live in the house next door and have lived there for about 50 years. They are truly some of the nicest people I have encountered since returning to the northeast. She is always yelling over to us and keeping up on our lives and news. She also likes to scorn me for riding my motorcycle since her own son was paralyzed riding an old crotchrocket of sorts.Well, in her hands she appeared with 2 nice lobsters that she wanted to give my girlfriend and me. To say the least, I was taken back as I have only had 1 since my arrival on the eastcoast over a year ago due to their cost.

I thanked her and all I could think was, "what goes around, comes around." I feel like the universe knew we were sharing (even though I am floating on loan money right now) and that she (both the universe and my neighbor)had reciprocated. It was an unprovoked, kind gesture and I appreciated it. I ate lobster, local corn, and a glass of red wine as I sat studying Neuro.

Without ruining this nice experience with too much political thought, I want to briefly mention that I believe their are too many Americans who don't want to help each other out. Everyone bitches about taxes, programs, bureaucracy, large government but in my mind these societal elements are essential to building a society where people's basic human needs are met: food, shelter, health care, and opportunities to grow. The republicans are building yet another political platform on reduced taxes, cut programs, and selfish ideology. I watched one woman speak at the DNC who claimed to have been a lifelong republican until a year ago when she came onto hardtimes because of joblessness and health issues. Shee could not pay her bills or get the medicine she needed. Her statement was, "I can't afford another 4 years with a republican in the Whitehouse." My question to her is,"where were you when you had the funds and your fellow citizens were the ones that needed your tax dollars, government programs, and health care aid?"

What goes around, comes around. And I don't mean it in the revenge kind of way!

Remember to share and elect the most progressive, socially minded politicians you can find on your national and local ballets.

edit:
ok, I am going to taint this post with politics after all.

listen to this Michael Moore interview on Larry King Live:
They have two quick clips of McCain and Obama on healthcare and then he says some interesting things that echo my post above: GO TO minute 19 sec 17.




in case you dont see the embedded video click here

I also liked how M.M. commented that Obama's plans are not perfect either.

"His (Obama's) plan still leaves insurance companies at the table. Ah...they should ont be anywhere, private-profit making companies, around a universal healthcare plan b/c they are there to make a profit. We whould never talk about profit when we are talking about helping people that are sick."
Min 22 sec 10

As a medical student who is taking on about $350,000 worth of debt to go to school, universal healthcare is a huge gamble for my professional life and career. But...I still support the idea of attempting to construct such a system in which insurance companies have no hand in determining how one gets care. I don't understand, as a non-healthcare professional, why universal healthcare would not be on one's list of things they would like to see happen in short order.