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I’ve been reading  and watching news on Haiti.  So impressed with how the World is rallying for this little island country. Rwanda sent $100,000!  Isn’t Rwanda really poor?  Isn’t that like getting 50 cents from someone who only has a dollar?   It is heartwarming to watch the people of the world take on the tragedies of strangers.

Some folks go through life as though the world owes them more.  Most are extremely grateful and tend to give back.  Giving is interesting; it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with spiritual or political  tendencies, or income.  It is an inclination.  This mind set exists all over the world and when tapped, achieves wonderous results.  Can this wonder be learned?

If my life so far can be considered a survey, my conclusion is caring can’t be taught.  The joy of caring can only be experienced.   You walk through a grocery store and see someone with too many items in their arms — they drop something — do you pick it up for them or do you walk on thinking “why didn’t they grab a cart?”.   You see a Mom taking a photograph of her husband and baby — do you stop and offer to take a picture of the three of them together or do you just keep walking, not wanting to break your stride or step outside your box?

Merging traffic can be a beautiful example of strangers caring about strangers and everyone doing the right thing.  Often, it isn’t such a beautiful thing, don’t be the reason why.

I was in a conversation with a physician I work with the other night at the hospital.  He described me as “uber liberal” and decided I needed to be reformed and informed.  He started printing up things for me to read from his Fox network.

This Physician is very very afraid of our government running anything.  On the other hand,  if you leave the government out of our lives then you end up with a place — well –  Haiti is a graphic example of a  weak government.  Us worker bees need to be protected.  We are the ones out here in the trenches doing the work.  We don’t mind, we’re happy and have amazing respect for our founding fathers’ plan for checks and balances and equal rights.  They were a bit hypocritical about equal rights, writing and signing the constitution while their slaves tended to their farms, but, their ultimate plan was ingenious.

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The Physician and I are an example of check and balance.  His check is the need to be compensated for all the patients he fights hard to save.  Many of them are self abusers, over-eaters, smokers, alcoholics, prescription drug abusers.  They vary from uninsured, medicaid, Medicare as well as the insured.  Some try to sue him for an anomaly that is most often a result of their own self abuse.  The litigation involved is extremely expensive and is driving up healthcare costs.  Tort reform is his primary concern to improve our health care system.   I definitely get his point and I also am angry at the folks making a living out of being sick.

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My balance is the waitress with a kidney stone, the restaurant owner with chest pain, the guy that builds kayaks by hand with diabetes, the lady with a shop full of locally made art.   To them insurance is a gamble; those without are gambling they won’t need it,  those with individual insurance pay dearly for a catastrophic plan.  How can we remain innovative Americans if we can’t leave Wal-mart to try our hand at Tilapia farming or growing bamboo or opening a breakfast joint.  We aren’t really free as long as we are locked in to a job because we need the insurance?