During my childhood, I got sick often. Usually, it was during the winter months. I missed a lot of school because of it. Mom was beside herself trying to keep me well. She had a whole army of home remedies for most of the things I got. Vicks Vapo-Rub on the chest, hot cloths wrapped around the throat, vapor inhalation treatment s of Vicks in super hot water; she tried them all. I suffered through them all, and survived in spite of it. She heard of a new treatment from a friend. Most likely, it was one of the nuns from Our Lady of Hungary. Out of desperation, she experimented on me. The new torture was a regular diet of castor oil. For those of you have not tried castor oil, I suggest that you get some and try swallowing a shot glass full of the stuff. If you like it, call a psychiatrist immediately.
I was not about to take the stuff without a fight. Mom had other plans. She could not stand to do nothing. Any idea was worth a try to keep her precious little Jun-e-or healthy. I do not remember how she ever got me to sit in a chair for her because the mind blocks out terrible things that occur in a person’s life. Thank God for that. The first time, I probably went for it until I tasted and felt the gooey stuff in my mouth. The second time became a battle. She literally had me held in the chair while she pinched my nose closed. Of course, I enjoyed breathing, and had to open my mouth to do so. When my mouth opened, a spoonful of castor oil flooded my throat, and her hand came up under my chin to close my jaw. I had to swallow. After that try, she did not force me to take the stuff straight anymore. Instead, she put the oil into orange juice and forced me to drink the juice. It was still terrible.
Thankfully, I outgrew many of the childhood diseases and became healthier in spite of Mom’s homeopathic treatments. I am positive that not even one of them worked, but they made Mom feel better because she thought she was doing something to help me.
I am telling this story because I see a parallel between my experience as a boy, and the health care proposal that is currently on the table. My mother did not have a clue as to the benefits of castor oil on my health, but she believed it would help. She also felt good about doing something as opposed to doing nothing. The difference between my own health and the massive health care bill is I outgrew my problems. The castor oil was limited to me, not the whole country. The health care plan will affect everyone, and it will stay with us forever. If you think we’ll be able to change health care later, just look all the ineffective governmental agencies that we implemented to take care of us: Department of Homeland Security, Department of Energy, Department of Education, FDA, the list is endless, and they never go away.
Health Care will never go away either. We will just become more dependent on the government . The actual care anyone gets will erode into something that is ineffectual and useless, but it will keep on costing a fortune. Do not let them shove it down our throats because it is better than doing nothing. That is bullshit. Doing anything instead of the right thing is a feel good solution for the implementer, and useless for the people who have to swallow it.
Filed under: Biography, Cartoons, Conservative, economy, Election, family, Government, health care, Jun-e-or, liberals, Memories, politics, religion, Satire, Warm and Fuzzy | Tagged: castor Oil, health care, Homepathic Medicine |
I thought it was going to be the story when your pet rabbit disappeared, then showed up for Sunday Dinner as a Special Guest…..
A comment on where you write “I am telling this story because I see a parallel between my experience as a boy, and the health care proposal that is currently on the table. ….”
Sometimes I wonder if The Plan is to totally control and/or eliminate the older generation through making us all dependent on government-controlled health care?
As it seems it’s mainly seniors like yourself who have been around along enough, with enough real life experience and a knowledge of history, to connect the dots.
Seems to me that not that many of the younger generation find the discussion relevant. Or they are totally taken in by the concept of “friendly government working for the good of the people”, rather than what government has become.
moraloutrage:
Thanks for the great response.
Most of today’s young people are too busy trying to live the American Dream to be worried about what is going on in government. They do, however, expect Uncle to take care of them. My own kids are up to their butts in alligators trying to make mortgage payments and to put food on the table for the kids. Those without families are busy sowing their oats The only ones I know who give a hoot are old codgers like me. We have the time to care. We also see the crap heading right into the fan.
Did she ever try castor oil in cold, black coffee on you? Someone told her this was the “best”. YUK!
I agree with you about government agencies never going away, they only get bigger. There is an attitude that prevails among those who work on tax payer funded jobs. One example: For 12 years I was on the library board in Sauk Village. It was up to the librarian to come up with the annual budget and it was up to the board to review it and give final approval. Without fail, the librarian(s) always spent every tax dollar we anticipated collecting and even though the board insisted on putting some away in a reserve fund, he/she would, during the year come up with some “really needy” program saying, “..well we have the money in reserve and this is a worthy cause”. Eventually she would get enough board members to agree to vote in favor of it. Of course, the next years budget had to be higher to include the new program(s). Eventually the Board was forced to raise the tax rate to increase our income.
I see this in every single governmennt agency. Spend it all or else their budget might get cut. It is a disease.
Our “employees” in Congress are professionals at this approach.
Jeez, Castor oil in cold coffee. Is it too late to call the DCFS?
Governmental growth is a disease like cancer. Department heads believe that expansion is justification for their job. We did the same stuff at work, but our leader was always too smart to allow us to get away with it.