Sweet wifey just posted a story on DISABILITY. Well, I am here to tell you that I do not think much of disability. In my profession I see a whole bunch of people running around claiming they are disabled. Most of them appear to be healthier than either the nurse or I. Now I will concede that there are a FEW people in such a bad way that they are truly disabled and I do not mind providing help for these people. Unfortunately for the most part, this disability thing has deteriorated into another giant scam.
Wifey defines disability as: "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity." That's pretty broad, doncha think? Suppose I was a professional skydiver and I broke my leg or some other appendage and was no longer able to skydive. Would I be disabled under the above definition? YES! Would I be able to sit on my ass for the rest of my life and let someone else subsidize my existence? UNDER THE CURRENT DEFINITION, PROBABLY YES!
Of course in the real world, even though I could not skydive, there would be plenty of other things I could do to make money and support myself. But the problem is one of ATTITUDE and ENTITLEMENT and so off I go to some doctor who will attest to my disability and if I do the right song and dance, I'll end up on the gubment dole for the rest of my life or at least until the gubment runs out of money.
I saw a guy once in his late 20's who claimed he had hurt his leg roofing a house. I also noticed that he had a Medicare card. You know me, I just had to ask. Well he told me he was disabled because he was "too nervous to work". Yet he was roofing a house. Last time I checked, roofing a house is pretty hard work. So this "disabled" dude was scamming the system, collecting "free" healthcare from the gubment and still working on the side. This same dude has been known to scam narcotic prescriptions out of doctors also. He later sells the narcotics to supplement his income........SWEET!
I am of the opinion that despite whatever maladies you may suffer from, there is something out there you can do to make money (legally) and make your way through life. Many of the so called disabled don't seem to see it that way.
Another fun activity is to visit the friendly Walmart parking lot and watch the disabled people with those blue stickers and special license plates, hopping out of their new Lincoln Continentals and Escalades, gleefully turning cartwheels, smoking cigarettes, and talking on their I-phones as they head for the entrance. As I get out of my truck, I stand there for a moment, massaging my sore back, and stretching my arthritic knees before I hobble half way across the parking lot. I have been tempted to see if I can get a handicapped sticker for my motorcycle! Wouldn't that be a trip?
Of course the gubment has intervened by forcing private bidnesses to install wheelchair ramps, parking spots, special doors, toilet stalls etc......naturally all at the expense of the bidness. Now I have no problem with a bidness doing this, but the gubment should not be dictating compliance.
When I was a real doctor and had an office and everything, I used to have people coming in all the time wanting "handicapped" stickers. Again many of these complainers seemed to be getting around a lot better than the nurse or I. I generally would not accommodate them unless they had a valid problem. One guy told me he was disabled because he had diabetes. I told him I had it too and I was doing just fine. He did not seem to appreciate my observation very much.
Another thing I used to do was DISABILITY DETERMINATION PHYSICALS. Most of these were an exercise in deception, but the gubment did pay me pretty well to do them so I could not complain. You would not believe some of the outrageous and concocted stories I have heard during these encounters. My favorite was when a 40 year old man came in and told me, "Doc, I am disabled due to the fact I am BROKE!" Sometimes it takes every bit of willpower I have to contain myself, but at least the guy was honest. Too bad he had not considered the possibility of finding a job as a solution.
And then there is the SCOOTER STORE, ah yes, the SCOOTER STORE! If you qualify, they will send you a FREE scooter. No cost to you! RIGHT! As you might guess, I do not think much of scooters. I'm thinking that if these people riding around Walmart in scooters would get up off their ass and walk, it might be good therapy and they might be better off for their efforts. Back in 1997 I broke my left hip in an accident. During my recovery, as I was on crutches, I visited Walmart and was almost tackled and hogtied by employees trying to get me to use one of their scooters. I thanked them but refused indicating that a couple of laps around the store on crutches would do my hip a lot of good.......and it did! Unfortunately the Walmart employees are all looking at me going, "Poor baby! Woe is he! Woe is he!" It is how we have been programmed folks, and the federal gubment and liberals are to blame for most of it.
I used to have a ham radio friend who had a spinal cord injury. He was a quadriplegic. He did not sit around saying "Woe is me, I'm disabled." Instead he designed computer webpages and made a living doing it. He would control the mouse and the cursor with his mouth. He is now passed on but when I see people squalling because they "can't do this" or "can't do that" I just shake my head and think of my departed friend. My momma used to say that, "Can't never did anything." My momma was right.
In life we all must play the hand we are dealt. It is my feeling that no matter what your lot in life, there is always something you can do to take care of yourself. You just have to find it. Yes it may be a lot harder on some than on others, but life is unfair. That's just the way it is.
So if you come to see me one day and tell me you are disabled, don't be offended if I don't pat you on the head and say, "Poor baby!"
I'm thinking toward the end of this year she's going to resign her position and throw her hat into the ring. She might well beat Obama in the Democrat primary. In fact, if she ends up in the next presidential primary and I only have choices of RINOs on the Republican side, I may go pull the switch for the witch. I'd rather have the witch than another limp wristed RINO, for sure.
