Indeed I get a feeling that some people who live in bad conditions sometimes need a delusion to cope with what their life is. It’s only worth dispelling an illusion if you’re going to somehow make reality better for them – or if they will have to face reality at some point and you want to ease them into it gradually.

Bahamat says:

If nobody ever finds out you can get away with anything

How much you can get away with was just brought home to me:  I just finished reading This is Paradise!  My North Korean Childhood by Hyok Kang.  Everyone knows things are bad in the “socialist paradise” of Kim Jong Il, but just how bad they are is mind-boggling.  The most discouraging thing is the depth of the delusion that the regime has been able to plant in the people.  The “paradise” in the title refers to the poor border village in China that Kang fled to at the age of thirteen with his parents.  Highly recommended for a case history of just how far control can go.

If nobody ever finds out you can get away with anything

May I make an attempt at humor?  I think everyone else covered the serious issues well enough anyways. 

I am sure your daughter is pleased that you announced to the world she is constipated. 

“Thanks Dad, that was thoughtful but I hope none of my friends read this!”

Geez, Les. I’m so sorry you have to find out the hard way that Corporate America doesn’t give a shit about people – and they are the ones in charge right now. I’m working for peanuts right now, even though I have the skills to make lots of money at what I do – for the simple reason that I spend the majority of my time in school and no employer seems to want me only part-time. I find it funny how the jobs that offer health insurance coverage seem to go to the people who could afford it on the pay alone. Okay, so it’s not so funny.

Anyways, I know that severe constipation can cause blood in the urine – when you’re straining too hard to poo, you can burst the finer blood vessels in the kidneys from the sharp increases in blood pressure. Bruised kidneys like that really hurt – it’s like getting punched in them. So it’s no wonder Courtney could barely walk.

As one of the fellow 47 million, I feel for ya, Les. I really do.

Rufus – ain’t you the president of Shinra inc. ???

That’s it.  No more Final Fantasy for you.

I sometimes wonder, watching US medical dramas, how often they do something because they know they are charging it?  I realise ER isn’t real life, but I know a number of accountants who happily phone me on spurious points because their client pays, and it makes them look like they are doing something against the big, bad taxman.

Rufus – ain’t you the president of Shinra inc. ???

America’s Health Plan (are ya ready?) DON’T GET SICK!
——————-
God, I feel your pain.

Frank_The_Tank – I remember that name from ages back! You sound playful

LH – My gross is about £4500, but only do 16 hours/week. I don’t really understand why I wanted to say that, but I did. Merry dinner

We wish you a merry dinner,
We wish you a merry dinner,
We wish you a merry dinner,
And a happy new beer