Big Brother

In 1948, George Orwell wrote a book titled 1984. When he wrote it, the year 1984 seem like an eternity away. It was based on the premise of "Big Brother". Big Brother was a form of government that watched over everything civilians did and they had to suffer the ramifications for their actions. In 2004 , Mark Zuckerberg invented Facebook. Society jumped on the idea. I do not think that anyone did, nor for that matter, does, realize that we have created a self imposed Big Brother. There is no privacy in the world. People post what they do, where they go and everything in between. Families have found out about pregnancies and divorces through Facebook. People have lost their jobs because of it, when pictures that are no ones business are posted and viewed by the wrong people. Have we become a society where "curiosity killed the cat". I am one of the few people that never joined Facebook. My personal life is just that.... personal. I have no curiosity about the nameless, faceless, millions that are linked to each other by the premise of being a friend. If someone has 500 friends, it is about 493 too many. We have compromised ourselves in the worst way and are too absorbed in other people's business to realize it. If you are on Facebook, remember, Big Brother is ALWAYS watching.

Gotcha!

You can run, but you can't hide. Eventually, I will catch up with you. I try to run my office efficiently and collect the fees at the time of service. Usually I have no problem but sometimes people are just deadbeats. I call and mail bills but I am ignored. That's OK. I will deal with them in the future. I never send anyone to collection. I do not think it is fair to ruin someones credit for a few hundred dollars. I would rather wait it out. Most times things come full circle. This happened yesterday. I got a call from a former patient that wanted to come back and see the doctor. I looked up his name and could not find him.I went into our old computer system and there he was. Last seem in 2002. I informed him that he has owed us $134 since 2002. Somehow he didn't seem to remember this bit of information. I told him that his account was locked out until the payment was made. He immediately gave me his credit card number and I cleared his account. I also informed him that he had to be credit card on file for any future appointments as I would never again wait for payment. He had no choice but to agree. It took ten years but ....gotcha.

Times They Are A Changing

Years ago I read a quote from a very famous man. He said something to the effect of "the youth of our times does not honor the values of their parents. They are wild and unruly and have no respect for their elders". This quote is attributed to Socrates. So, even centuries ago, parents felt that their children did not follow their guidance. My generation listened to the stories of how our parents walked to school in 3 feet of snow. I was told how lucky I was that disposable diapers were invented, as the women of the 1950's had to wash cloth ones. My children cannot believe that there was a time when juice packs did not exist. I remember many years ago, wondering how liquid could be put into a cardboard box and not leak. When my children were toddlers, we carried thermoses. The world seems to be changing too rapidly for me. If I have gotten to the phase in life when I can say "I remember when....", then time has really flown by. Even language has been effected. The meaning of many words have changed. If you are my age, you will remember the old ones as well as the new. Remember when:
Spam was a lunch meat
A mouse was a rodent
Pasta was called macaroni
Jeans were referred to as dungarees
Cells were rooms that inmates lived in
Online really meant waiting on a line
Text was what you read on the pages of a book
Going viral was when chicken pox infected the school
I guess life is change.....and change is good.

It's A Dogs Life

God created all creatures, large and small. From the tiniest amoeba to the largest giraffe. In between, he created Man. While he created us with the ability to think, and reason, are we really on the top of his hierarchy? The other day I was looking at my dog and realized that maybe domesticated house pets are on the top of the list. Think about it. Every day I go to work and spend eight hours a day toiling at a somewhat pleasant job, to be able to have a decent quality of life. A roof over my head, clothes on my back and food in my stomach. Not to mention any occasional luxuries. Then I look at Shelby, the namesake of this blog. This is his daily routine: he sleep in his soft microfiber bed, until he hears breakfast being served. Then he gets up, stretches and saunters over to his food bowl. After eating, he walks downstairs to the back door and looks at me with his big brown eyes, waiting to be walked. I put on his color coordinated leash, and when it is raining out, his matching raincoat, with the slightly turned up and very fashionable fleece turtle neck. He scampers around the yard, relieves himself, and chases a few birds. He then sniffs the lawn, and we go in the house. I leave for work and he goes to look out the front window and be the neighborhood watch. When he gets a bit tired, he fluffs up a couch pillow and lays his head down for a nap. All this while I am at the office. When I get home, he eats again and then brings me a toy for a small game of catch. When I finally sit down, he crawls onto my lap to watch television and be petted, kissed and hugged. His total existence depends on me. He has never worked a day in his life, but he reaps all of the benefits. In my next life, I want to be Shelby!

The Savage Beast

This morning I woke up and did my usual workday routine. Shower, get dressed, feed and walk the dog and get in the car for the 20 minute ride to work. It was a gloomy looking day, grey and foggy. No matter how upbeat you are, these days make it an effort to do just about anything, much less go to work. I turned on my car radio to the usual oldies station. WHLI 1100am. I love this station. It is all oldies, but the good ones, like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Way before my time, but classics. As I was half way into my ride, on came one of my favorite songs, "Sway with Me". I immediately smiled and actually applauded while driving. I sang along to it and even did the imaginary drummer moves on my steering wheel. After that song ended it segued into "Papa Loves Mambo" another favorite of mine. The Bravo TV show NJ Housewives resurrected this song. I was actually beaming with joy. I sang and swayed and tapped my feet to the music. My outlook on the day improved right away and when I arrived at work my attitude was set for the day. I guess the old saying that music soothes the savage beast is true.

Democracy?

Democracy is defined as a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. Sounds good, right? Too bad that this is not the reality of our democracy. Do we really have equal say? I never understood the electoral vote. If the popular vote is the majority, how can the opposing party win the electoral vote for the state. It makes no sense. One person, one vote. Not, one person, and let's skew the vote. Every two to four years, depending on which office is up for re-election, I have the possibility of casting my vote and making it count. That is about the last time anyone asks my opinion. From there on in, it is a free for all. Our representatives on Capitol Hill get together and decide, in my opinion, on random laws. I want to know who asked my opinion on whether or not we should give money to other countries. What about us? Who decided to give America's money away, when we ourselves are in debt. We find out that a law has already passed, before we even know what the law is regarding. We are all out of the loop. I feel like the "popular" kids all got together and made plans without me. I find out on Monday, what they did on Saturday. I think we need an "In The Loop" Law. I would be the first one to show up at the polls. 

Tick Tock....

All of us live on schedules, even if we do not think we do. We have a time to get up, a time to get ready for work, a time for break, a time for lunch and so on. Even the people that hate to have a clock rules their lives, more likely than not, still are a slave to time. That's just the way life is. The only people that seem to have a total disregard for time, are doctors.Where else can you sit for an hour waiting for someone, and then pay them for the privilege of seeing them. Years ago I waited so long for a doctors appointment, that my blood pressure skyrocketed. When the doctor asked me if I was under a lot of stress, because the reading was so high, I told him that it was normal when I got to the office and if it was high now, he caused it. Boy, was he sorry he asked that question. When he told me to come for a follow up visit, for my test results, I told him to call me with them, after 4pm, because I would never again sit for an hour and a half to see him. I sure felt empowered that day. The funny thing is, he did as I requested. I guess he thought he was dealing with a crazy lady. Senior citizens can't wait to retire so they will not have to abide by a schedule. Too bad someone invented the "early bird" special. Now they have to eat by 4pm or pay more, which isn't happening! Today I broke the rule.... I wanted to see if I could spend the day doing nothing and not looking at the clock. It was not fun and not easy to do. I guess I am so conditioned to follow a schedule that I just couldn't be free. Tomorrow I will be a clock watcher...and be proud of it.