A Codeine Moment
If this entry seems to ramble at all, well, I blame the Codeine. Yes, I'm induced at the moment. Judge me if you will, tell me to just say no, boycott this blog. But there must be some upside to suffering through a root canal procedure, and the prescription meds are the best ones that come to mind. Codeine is a low level opioid that is used to relieve pain. For most of my childhood it was a common ingredient in cough syrups (thus, Bill Murray's classic reference to the substance in the opening scenes of "Stripes", when he is working as a cab driver), though those days are gone. Still, when one has occassion to procure the stuff legally, it's nice to indulge.
And, I'll need all the painkillers I can get to absorb the dental bill, since I, like millions of Americans, don't have health insurance. As a writer not employed by any single corporation, I'm on my own, though I could, for a ridiculous monthly sum, have a terribly basic plan, with doctors I don't know and paperwork I don't understand. And I'd still have to pay out of pocket for my dental needs.
Because, this is America, and while we can spend tens of billions of dollars each month to fight a war for "against terror" (as Andy Borowitz brilliantly noted, you can't really fight a war against an emotion, which is what terror is), we can't seem to figure out how to create a system that provides for superior health care for average citizens. Or, more accurately, the government can't seem to find the funds.
I'd be well out of my league by several orders of magnitude if I said I knew what the solution was. I don't, but there has to be an alternative better than my hoping I don't get sick, and forking out thousands of dollars for those times I do visit the doctor (it's the lab work that gets you). I've been fortunate. Of course, the point of insurance is that it acts as a safety net for those medical emergencies one cannot foresee.
And that's where the Codeine comes in handy. For a little while, I get to float like Thomas de Quincey, enjoying the morphine-like effects of the Tylenol 3 my dentist so professionally prescribed. So far, the evening been nothing but roses. My jaw feels fine, my toothache is gone, and my mind feels fuzzy, but focused. Come to think of it, I think I'll go pop in Season 2 of Arrested Development. Let's just hope I don't laugh so hard that I require medical attention.
