A recent hospital visit resurrected some old memories - some past encounters with the medical world. The current economy descends into hell and I am reminded of that other great recession of the 1970s and early '80s. You know that Rust-belt master piece economy which was a precursor to this current crappy-job economy? For two decades after it happened, people only talked about it in hushed whispers - they would usually look over their shoulders as well.
In 1978 I had to buy a small and used Japanese motorcycle (Yamaha 350) to beat the high gas prices of the time. Ironically, I make the same weekly pay amount now that I did back then. Welcome to the "New Norm" America - but, I digress.
I rode it everywhere. I drove the shit out of it. In the winter of '78 - early '79, I drove it to work....all winter in a snowmobile suit from Whitewater to Beloit. I guess in retrospect, I should be glad they threw me any job bone at all.
In the fall of 1979 I was driving into Whitewater and a bee blew in my Army jacket collar. It made its way down my sleeve to the back of my bicep. Of course, it bit me.
In case you have not gleaned from my past writing, I do get allergic reactions rather easy. My genetic blood condition probably does not help that. Suffice it to say that within a few minutes, my arm was as big as my leg. Mister brain surgery that I was back then, I went home. I had trouble getting my coat off. I did not tell anyone I was in trouble - my mom would have had a fit, and my dad might have said, "Walk it off, Bub."
Anyway, my Army training left me with enough sense to finally get to a hospital. There is a hospital in Fort Atkinson (I will not mention which one) that my family had used for decades. In fact I was born there. I made my way via the back farm roads from my dad's farm to the hospital...yes, on that motorcycle. I imagine my route was not so much different than when my dad took my mom up there when my birth was pending. None-the-less, I made the journey...rather ill by then...to what was then considered their emergency room.
I remember some joker in a lab coat met me at a window of sorts. In my memory, it remends me now of a burger shack drive-through window. Memory is cruel.
"What's your problem?" Joker asked and glowered at me and snikered at my Army jacket. Joker could not have been more than 30 years old. I doubt if he was even a nurse; he surely could not have been a doctor; and, I would bet you a drink at the Long Branch saloon of your choice, he sure the fuck was not a veteran.
"Bee sting," I said, holding my arm by now.
"Got insurance?" Joker asked.
"No," I said.
At this point I can't quite remember the fee for an ER visit that day. But, it seemed like 90 Bucks is stuck in my head. That would have been a small fortune for a mook making 135 Bucks a week. Hell, 90 Bucks would still bust my balls.
As fate would have it, being pre-ATM days, I had run out of the house with no cash or no check book.
"Can't help you with out payment," Joker said and looked so ritualistically banal. Talk about a dick-head with gatekeeper syndrome...Christ!
So, off I rode, back to the house, to get my check book. By the time I got there, I had to do every thing with the unaffected arm. By the time I got back to the hospital and the Joker, I had to fill out the check with my non-writing hand. I don't even remember doing it as I was getting quite light headed by then.
Back then, had I died in the hospital parking lot, I feel quite certain the mantra from almost every circle in society would have been something like, "Damn dumb fool. Should have had his check book with him! " And, the cops would have put a ticket on my motorcycle.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
Army Corporal Kenneth Cross, 21, of Superior, Wisconsin, died Sunday, August 27, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. He was killed during combat operations when his Stryker Vehicle was attacked by enemy forces using an improvised explosive device and small arms fire. Corporal Cross was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), out of Fort Lewis, Washington. He was one of two soldiers killed in the attack during the combat operation. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel mentioned Cross wanted to follow a family tradition of military service citing his desire to drive a tank like his World War II veteran grandfather. Cross' father was a Vietnam Veteran. His mom's dad had been a Marine stationed in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. Kenneth married in April of 2006 in Washington state. He met his wife, Heidi, on the Internet while stationed at Fort Lewis. He was shipped out to Iraq two months after the marriage. Cross planned to buy a home and start a family after he returned home from Iraq. He left Superior High School during his senior year so he could join the Army, earning his GED at a local vocational school. He enjoyed deer hunting, and driving snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. The Journal Sentinel went on to say, Kenneth is remembered for his affection for mischief. The Website komonews.com notes Cross and his wife lived in Steilacoom, Washington. He had served one year in the U.S. Army before his death. A Stars and Strips article posted on strykernews.com mentions Cross' Army roommate was also killed in the attack. Private First Class Daniel Dolan was 19 years old. They were members of 3rd Platoon, Company C of the unit mentioned above. Both soldiers were posthumously promoted - Cross to corporal, Dolan to specialist. They were the first casualties for the battalion since it arrived in Iraq in early August of 2006 to participate in Operation Together Forward, a mission to reduce sectarian violence in Baghdad. Cross was known for knowing everything about a Stryker vehicle there was to know, and would spend his free time reading notoriously boring Army technical manuals. But Army friends noted Kenneth also had a lively side as well. At the time of his death Cross was survived by his mother Betty Cross; five older brothers and a younger sister; and, articles did not mention if Kenneth's father was still alive. Corporal Kenneth Cross was the 61st Wisconsin military service person killed in Iraq since the spring of 2003.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
97,568 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,654 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,421 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
1269 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
318 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
788 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,929 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
7,820 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
102 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
20 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
142 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
21 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org.
