Musings of a Senior Scribe
The Tail and The Fleas
By Mona Lease 

Hi, all! I've been reading the hype about Obama and Romney. I've read the hype about Mandel and Brown. And my opinion is: 

You act like everything depends on these men. On the abortion issue - How about telling the boys and girls to wait until they are mature and stable enough to handle the consequences of having sex, "proving their love, "getting it on" or whatever phrase you care to use. 

I mentored a girl/woman a few years ago on this issue. Usual scenario - she's pregnant - Dad's not going to marry her. "We're gonna make it work" is what they decided. He went to work and she went to welfare. You can't work with the morning sickness. (They did not count on that one). They want names... dates... his job. She plays dumb. "It was a bad time in my life... I was drunk... I don't remember." 

The baby is born - health problems arise. The baby is in the hospital for a week after the birth. "We're makin' it work." They still live apart. 

The day comes when she's strung out - up all night with a sick kid... can't see to his "needs." Only her to "make it work" 20+ hour a day. He wants to "leave her" and still see the kid. She can keep on with the welfare - can't she? He's paying taxes. 

She's tired, mad, and confused. She thought he loved her. (He did not tell her; she could "tell"). She goes to welfare and tells them she "ran into the Father." She gives them all the information they want. It's "on" now. Cheeks get swabbed. The Father gets some new bills, she gets a reduction in the welfare because she now gets child support, AND… now the baby is teething. 

She cries, the "dream" is gone; now she needs a reliable car, a job, and a reliable babysitter, and some "Me" time. It would have been better for her to cry in the beginning and get her "toes stepped on" rather than to have them "broken" with the court scenes and lost job opportunities because the sitter did not show and you can't drag a sick, fevered baby to a job interview. 

The health care is obvious to me. In the above analogy - they went to Cincinnati for the cheek swabs. You have the price of two swabs. I was told this test was $500 a test. Then you pay the person who reads them. It's fine to say insurance for all. Sadly, not all insurance pays 100% of every thing. They do not normally pay for DNA tests. The Father got half of the astronomical hospital bill; isolette, IV'd drugs, blood work, urine tests, (catheters to take the urine), X-rays, diapers, chucks, hospital bed, disposable thermometers, bottles, rash cream, - the list is endless. You do the math. 

Fast forward to this year. The kid got a DUI, totaled his car, and hurt is buddy in the wreck. He's a minor. Insurance probably will not pay due to his being a minor, underage drinking, etc. The pattern continues... like a dog chasing its tail. 

I cannot make myself believe that more money and better health insurance is the answer. I can only believe what I see. The product is sold at Wal Mart, I see it at Goodwill. If it does not sell it ends up in the dumpster or a Goodwill semi shuttles it to another city in the area. And it "goes around another time." 

I'm crazy enough to believe that if we tell the boys and girls - "All we have to give each other that is priceless and more valuable than all the oil, gold, silver, and diamonds on this earth combined, is ourselves; we could stop chasing our tail and start dealing with the "fleas."

Remember the kiddies and our service people. Be good to the furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. Ever Toodles!! MONA