Squirrel Droppings – Waiting Rooms

I hate to admit that I just don’t understand a lot of things that some people take for granted. Two things in particular merit my inquizitiveness. Jump in at any time to help. One thing I have noticed is that Pharmaceutical companies are advertising more and more of their wares on TV. To people who can not buy the stuff without a prescription. I guess the idea is that you see the ad, and, decide that you need to be cured of whatever the paid actors claim they have.

Since they look a lot better at the end of the ad than the beginning ,it’ll  obviously help to make you feel better too. They then figure that the next step is for you to call your doctor and explain symptoms that you never really had so you can be cured. And feel better. After you make the appointment you have to watch the ad several times. Just to make sure your symptoms match. Gotta get it right after all.

Of course, these are not conscious thoughts. The ad people call it subliminal perception. Or mind control. They just want to sell their product. Of course, the billions of dollars they spend getting you this far is added to the price of the magic elixir. Last year drug companies spent over fourteen billion dollars on promotions. Not to mention political donations. FOURTEEN BILLION DOLLARS. ON PROMOTIONS !!They must use the PR firm DEWEY, CHEATHAM AND HOWE.

Next you sit in the doctor’s waiting room ,where you encounter numerous other people who also saw the ad , and have the same symptoms. The third person in line has worn the doctor down so his prescription pad is at the ready when you get to see him/her  an hour and a half later. Drug company one. You zero.

The second thing today may offend or infuriate some of you. So, now is a good time to bail out if you are easily offended. Or infuriated.  Seriously! Last chance.

I’m sitting in the doctor’s waiting room. No, nothing to do with the first part of this story. Looking around I see several old issues of People magazine and Readers Digest. Great for thumbing through while you wait. Kills time and takes your mind off the upcoming visit and helps you forget how long you’ve been there. Said magazines have also been handled by numerous sick people. With a spit load of germs on their hands. Kind of job security for the doctor.

What I see absolutely stuns me. A Holy Bible. I check . It’s eight hundred and four pages of tiny print. Eight hundred and four pages. Now, I understand that many people think so highly of their theology that they are very anxious to share it with you. That’s fine, but, does the doctor really mean to imply that you will be waiting that long? Eight hundred and four pages of tiny print? Or are they saying you might need Devine intervention to get better. I might have to think about that.

Or maybe you have to set up enough future visits to make sure you can read it all? Dog eared pages and all. Either way I would question their appropriation of my time. I’ve got a life and a lot of other stuff I’ve committed to. Like an occasional nap. Dinner and maybe a football game. Walking the dog. Dinner. Writing stuff. Did I mention a nap?

Now, I  realize that I am not cognizant of the full content of this book.  Nor do I get its appeal to so many. A lot of people can quote things they read and sometimes understand. A lot of other people say they understand it differently.  But me, I am totally bewildered and at a loss. My ego takes a major hit when I don’t understand something. So, I’m asking those of you who do, to help me figure out why they put it in the doctor’s waiting room. Give me a call. You know how to find me.

Hey, I told you that you could bail out.