Say "Ahhhhhh"...

One of my favorite blogs is the daily laugh riot published by Miss Cellania. I don't know where this wonderful lady finds all the hysterical stuff she posts, but I'm glad she does...it's usually the first thing I read in the morning to get my spirits up for whatever the day is getting ready to throw at me.

Today, her theme is "The Doctor's Office," which resonates with me as I try to cast off the last dregs of last week's creeping crud. Having just experienced the sheer joy of being greeted at the doctor's office with the Official Healer's Greeting - "You have a $10 co-pay" - and rattling when I walk from all the pills I'm still taking, I can appreciate jokes taken at the expense of the medical profession. So, probably, can Rodney Dangerfield - I believe it was he who once said that when he asked his doctor for a second opinion, the doctor replied, "Okay, you're ugly, too."

I'd seen this little riff on the history of medicine before, but it's still funny (and true):

2000 B.C. - Eat this root.

1000 A.D. - That root is heathen. Say this prayer.

1850 A.D. - That prayer is superstition. Drink this potion.

1940 A.D. - That potion is just snake oil. Swallow this pill.

1985 A.D. - That pill is ineffective. Take this antibiotic.

2000 A.D. - That antibiotic is artificial. Eat this root.

Yes, it seems as if the relentless advance of medical knowledge keeps turning the old conventional health wisdom on its head. When I was little, my mother was always pushing us out the door during the summer to play outside in the sunshine. Today, you don't send your children out in the sunshine without long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a sun hat, and SPF 897 sunblock applied with a trowel. Today's miracle drug is tomorrow's excuse for an enormous, lawyer-enriching class action lawsuit. And I remember our old family doctor, who smoked like a chimney in the office...today, the doctors sneak their nicotine fixes out back by the dumpster like everyone else.

And then, there was the fellow who named his dog "Physician" so that he could command, "Physician, heel thyself!"

Having had the marvelous experience of suffering from severe allergic reactions to ... something (we've never been able to figure out just what) ... this cartoon speaks to me:


Okay, so I don't have any deep thoughts for today, just a few riffs at the expense of the medical profession, inspired by the matchless Miss Cellania. I actually do have a lot of thoughts on this topic, which I usually shout at the radio when I'm listening to the latest balderdash on affordable health care from some talking head or another, but we'll save them for another day. Perhaps tomorrow. If I feel up to it.

In the meantime, take two aspirins, leave me a comment, and come back tomorrow.

Have a good day. More thoughts then.

Bilbo