Dental Floss

Yesterday, after I finished my blog posting, I called my HMO dental office in Dover to arrange an appointment to fix my front tooth that is now missing a filling.



I suspected this would not be an easy request.  I was right. It wasn’t easy. First thing the woman in the dental office says to me is how busy they are in the office and then tells me to hold. Now I’m on hold…..for a long time.



She comes back on the phone and I explain to her that a filling fell out of my front tooth and when is the earliest I could see a dentist. She asks me which doctor I use. I don’t remember. It’s a HMO office. She checks and then reads off a list of names. I recognize the name “Patel” and tell her “That’s the one.” She tells me to hold again. Now I’m on hold……again…..for a long time.



She comes back on the phone. She tells me the earliest that Dr. Patel can see me is April 5th. Almost a month away! So I’m going to go snaggle toothed (which is NOT a good look for a front desk clerk at an upscale boutique hotel) for the next month.



I’m a reasonable person and I try to understand these things so I agree. However, once off the phone I’m thinking. “Why can’t I use another doctor in this HMO office?” After all, with an HMO I don’t have a choice of doctors.



I call back. I get the same woman. I ask her if I could have another doctor. She cuts me off with a curt “That’s the earliest Dr. Patel can see you!” By her tone of voice I can tell there is no margin for any other option. I have no choice. Socialized medicine. The end of the world. Bye, bye.



I make inquiries about using another dentist. A Rehoboth dentist comes to mind. He has been recommended to me several times. However, if I use him it would be an out of pocket expense for me because he doesn’t accept insurance. I decide to go for it.



I make the call. A woman named Diane answers the phone. Unlike my previous phone call, she doesn’t tell me how busy they are in their office that morning. She takes the time to listen to me. I don’t feel rushed. I explain my situation and asked when is the earliest I can make an appointment to fix my tooth. She checks the doctor’s schedule and asked me if I could come in Monday. Well, now this is more like it. I made the appointment.



I’m one of the believers that I think health care in this country needs a drastic overhaul. But, I can understand those who are concerned about “socialized” medicine. I’m fortunate in that I could a doctor of my choice when my HMO assigned doctor wasn’t available on a timely basis for me. What would have happened if I had broken my tooth and I was in pain? Wait a month until it was convenient for the doctor’s schedule?

Mortimer Snerd signing off.

Barry Goldwater is Rolling Over in his Grave

Want to know why I'm not a registered Republican anymore? The picture on this blog will tell you why. It is of a straight, white man from the South. It is of Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina. Last night during President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress, Representative Wilson broke all decorum by shouting "You lie!" in response to President Obama's speech that his health care proposal would not cover illegal immigrants. While no one disagrees with Representative Wilson's right to disagree with President Obama, few will agree that his manner of expressing his opinion was way out of line. Few that is except Fox News but that is another whole world that I won't go into now.




For most of my adult life I was a registered conservative Republican. The first president I voted for was Barry Goldwater. He espoused my views on government and our society. I started to lose it with the Republican Party during the 1992 Republican Party Convention during the Pat Buchanan culture wars keynote speech in which he railed against gays and lesbians. Watching the all white, clean cut, conventioneers rise to their feet and give enthusiastic cheers a chill went down my spine. I realized at that time this was not the political party in which I as a gay man was welcomed. The cheering conventioneers reminded me of the "good Germans" who cheered Hitler.



In the year 2001 I officially changed my registration to Democrat. Not so much because I subscribe to all the Democratic ideals but because I could no longer remain in the Republican Party after George W. Bush and his cronies took over this country. First they get us into a war of choice in which we have wasted billions of dollars and needlessly sacrificed the lives of our best and brightest. Then the Bush administration pushed through tax cuts for the rich only (I didn't see any tax cuts) and relaxed federal regulations that ran our country into a ditch. Where I really lost it with the Bush Republicans is when they tried to take away my VA medical care from me just because I wasn't a disabled veteran. That did it for me because then I would have no health care because I was out of a job. I only had the VA healthcare because that was what was promised to me if and when I ever needed it when I joined the Army in 1960 and put my life in their hands. No they're going to go back on that promise? No, that's when I decided to get out of this party which was no longer recognizable as the Republican Party to which I once belonged.



Last night's incredibly rude outburst by Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina now shows what the Republican Party has become. It is a party of straight, white, southern men who lie, intimidate, bully and threaten. It is not my party any more. Surely, Barry Goldwater must be rolling over in his grave.