Snapping at the British

I just snapped at an English kid while talking about health care. He had a legitimate complaint.

He was telling me that there are a lot of people from other countries coming into England to get medicines and surgeries, and it is putting a strain on their health care system. These people are entering England because they can’t get operations and medicine in their own homes without wiping out all the money they have. The impact for the English is that when they need an operation, it takes longer because there are more people in line. He said that it sometimes takes 2 years to get a hip replacement.

That does suck for the English. They chip in for the health care system from their paychecks, and people who don’t chip in are taking their places in line for things like surgery – things so important that they literally alter the course of English lives.

However, as an American, this was tough to hear because all I could think was ‘Well, at least you get the hip replacement.’

In hindsight, my reaction was quite unfair. I basically said, ‘So what if you have a long line? Why are you complaining about having it so good?’ through my arguments.

But then I realized that he has every right to complain about that situation. Can you imagine having hip pain, and not being able to walk comfortably for two years? That would be awful. If my taxes were supposed to be providing me health care but outsiders were jumping ahead of me in line, I would be upset too.

My real problem was that we don’t even have that much medical security in the United States. We don’t really have much a health care system in the United States. It’s more of a health insurance system. If you don’t have good health insurance (and really? Who does other than people tied to corporations?), you don’t personally know a doctor, or you don’t know someone else with some kind of “in”, you wouldn’t get a hip replacement at all the United States without losing everything you own.

I can identify with these immigrants who are desperate because I fear I could be one someday.

It’s not that the English have it so good, because they don’t. It’s that we have it so bad.

That makes me feisty, apparently. I need to go apologize.

More on this eventually, I'm sure...