Sunday, October 25, 2009

But Americans don't wait in lines!

Saturday morning, we stood in a looonnngg line.


For six hours.


The line started around in the back parking lot our our local health department, wrapped around the parking lot, spilled onto the sidewalk, and went down around the block. We arrived at 6:30 and didn't arrive home until 12:30. Yeah, six hours.


For a flu shot.



Now, I'm not normally a reactionary parent. I let my kids do stuff. I rarely have hand sanitizer in my purse, or even my cupboard (but I do use it at work; riding the train makes it a necessity!). I think it's been around 3 years since my kids have gotten any sort of a flu shot, let alone the H1N1 flu shot. But this year, I'd rather have them get the shot and know it's done, rather than waiting to get the H1N1 virus from school or church or whatever.

No, the part that makes me crazy is that we live here. This is America, after all. Americans don't stand in lines for flu shots. Maybe for U2 tickets, or to be the first for a Harry Potter book or Guitar Hero game. But not for a flu shot. We have the best doctors, the smartest scientist, even the fastest swimmers. And yet people who want a shot for something like the flu have to stand in lines for hours for them. And thousands who want to get them show up but are turned away.

I live in a county with over 1,022,000 people, for whom our county doled out 7,000 H1N1 shots on Saturday. That is 0.00685% of the population of our largish county who could get shots from their county health department.

I think it's despicable. I think it's outrageous that our country isn't more prepared for this. Regardless of whether you want the shot or not, you should be able to get it. You shouldn't have to be turned away by a county health worker with a county sheriff at her shoulder, keeping the peace. It's just wrong.

What do you think about the H1N1 vaccination?

Monday, October 19, 2009

Too many choices....

Right. Now. I have:
  • Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry
  • AS Byatt's The Children's Book
  • (And I'm reading The Year of the Flood.)
It's like I'm 9 years old again, standing in what we deemed "The Little Store," down the street from my house, with a dollar in hand and candy to choose from. I love having so many awesome books lined up to read! Now the only question is which to pick once I'm done with the Margaret Atwood.

Which one would you read first?? Are these on your book lists, too?

And, in a totally un-book related topic: we are already listening to Christmas music. Pandora rocks!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Giggling...

I'm reading Margaret Atwood's new book, Year of the Flood. It has a funny little hymn in it that I would like to share. Can you imagine singing this at church?

"Oh let me not be proud, dear Lord,
Nor rank myself above
The other Primates, through whose genes
We grew into your Love.

A million million years, Your Days,
Your methods past discerning,
Yet through Your blend of DNAs
Came passion, mind, and learning.

We cannot always trace Your path
Through Monkey and Gorilla,
Yet all are sheltered underneath
Your Heavenly Umbrella.

And if we vaunt and puff ourselves,
With vanity and pride,
Recall Australopithecus,
Our Animal inside.

So keep us far from worser traits,
Aggression, anger, greed;
Let us not scorn our lowly birth,
Nor yet our Primate seed."

I love Margaret Atwood. She is so clever at taking the measure of the current world with all its crazy technology and greed and then projecting it to a future that isn't too far fetched. Morphing Darwinism and creationism into a religion makes sense to my heathen mind, or at least more sense than the two ideas on their own. Personally, 4.6 billion years makes more sense to create an earth than 7,000, and yet I can't take God out of the 4.6 billion. It makes sense that animals preceded humans on earth, and yet I cringe at the implication that we came from monkeys. Maybe I should just take Atwood's advice and stop worrying about the struggle of science versus religion, and remind myself embrace my inner Australopithecus.

I don't want to get uppity on myself, after all.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

I'm tired....

We drove to and from Zion National Park in the past 29 hours.

I'm tired.

But it was so worth it. To see Matt and his new wife Arikka looking so happy was worth all those hours in the car, driving. Plus, Shane and I had our first EVER get away together. It was fun, in all the ways getting away with your husband are supposed to be fun.

You know, like chatting and stuff.

But I'm so glad to be home again. My kids actually missed me as much as I missed them, which is reason enough to leave them, I guess.

So, have you left your kids before? Am I the only one that waits 8 years to do so?