Do You Like Me? Yes No Maybe

Likealittle.com is a little gem of information I stumbled upon last week. I, myself, did not have the endless hours of internet time to discover this but overheard two people discussing it in class one Friday. You know, between the reliable studying they performed.

            Anyway, I was fortunate to discover that, despite my college having a population of about 1400, was one of the few colleges in New Hampshire on this website. And then I read some of the “adorable” comments of people at my school hitting on others at my school. Yep, that’s right. Public, online come-ons because the cocktail napkin on the bar or talking to people is so last century.

            Here are some of the little treasures I found on this great website:

“At lv4: Male, Brunette. the beard. the mustache. jesus christ you're the hottest hippie i have ever laid eyes on. DO ME.”

“At Around Campus: Male, Blonde. You look like Draco Malfoy and was in the play a couple weeks ago. I always see you outside smoking. You're amazing and who ever that girl is that's always following you around is lucky that she gets to be around you all the time. I wish I was in her place.”

“At bio: Female, Brunette. oh what a long lab with you i see you giving me those looks, stop fronting yourself . Ah I wanna stuff you like a thanksgiving turkey girl gobble gobble.”  

            So, I will be the first to admit that this might have been a great idea in middle school. Now, it works well as a laugh between friends or a waste of an afternoon. Take it seriously and I guarantee you will get your heart broken. 

Until next time...

Health Care

One story told about a nurse who fought for her husband to get treatment for cancer at the very hospital she worked at and was denied. One story told of a 9/11 volunteer who could barely afford her respiratory medication from problems she developed while sorting through rubble. One story was about a mother who begged doctors to treat her young daughter for a high fever, who later passed away from not being helped.

On March 21, 2010, the House passed the bill for national, universal health care. Three years before, Michael Moore released his newest documentary, “Sicko,” concentrating on the Americans who do have health care and what the insurance companies lack in support. I watched this movie in class this week and was brought to tears.

 The basic human needs are food, shelter and clothing. But I feel as though there is another need and that is to be taken care of when ill. A person should be given hospital care when needed without worrying, how am I going to pay for this or waiting five or plus hours in the waiting room, just to even see a doctor. No one should wonder, how am I going to pay for my medication? How am I even going to survive with these medical bills?

In five short months, I am going to graduate from college and will be thrust out into that scary, haunting place known as “the real world.” I started a “life fund” (currently Romeo’s “pee-pee” fund until he is neutered) recently, because I have no idea where my next job will be, what my next step will be. I won’t know where my health insurance will be coming from, since the universal health care won’t be brought into production until 2014, when I will be out of college for three years.

A year ago this week, I was trying to hide my tears in the middle of a Walmart as I found out one of my medications was $150 for a three month supply. Yes, from Walmart, who claims that most of their prescriptions are $10 or less. I left the store, not knowing what to do but to call my mommy who assured me she would pay for it. But $150?

If I lived in France, U.K., Cuba or Canada, I would probably have to pay little to no money to get the same medication. These are all countries with universal health care. In fact, in Sicko, Michael Moore asks questions to citizens of these countries about deductibles, waiting time for the emergency room and billing departments in the hospital and they all looked at him as if he were speaking Martian. The most expensive medication was $10 in American money for 120 pills, there were no billing departments in the hospitals and the longest wait for the emergency room was 45 minutes. My little brother had a spine injury and had to wait in the emergency room for 5 hours and my dog’s medication, alone, costs more than $10.

What is wrong with a country that privatizes health care? It treats its sick people as bad product and denies them the coverage they pay for when it’s not convenient for the company.

I leave you with a quote from someone I consider a great man:

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
--Gandhi

We won. And by 2014, Americans with or without health care, will be benefited.

Eavesdropping

My professor told me that eavesdropping is the best way to get a story idea. She then went on to tell us of something she heard in the cafeteria of my college; something along the lines of, "My sister was straight up pregnant when she was 13." Our class tried to decipher the line, but really, when someone only hears a piece of something, it never really makes sense.

I, myself, was in the shuttle (basically a bus that takes the seniors up to campus instead of walking the huge trek uphill to the center of the campus) the other day and heard the now infamous lines in my head:
Guy #1: "You are so gay."
Guy #2: "Only on Sundays."
Guy #3(sitting next to Guy#2): "Why are you touching me? It's not Sunday."

It is true that lines like this one make up the best stories. Completely taken out of context, a writer can go a total 360 and just make up whatever. Like say Guy#2 was actually a male stripier on Sundays. Or if a girl was straight up pregnant when she was 13 (whatever that means).

Until next time.

Wait! Let Me Get to the Next Chapter!!!

So, I have started this blog because I am a reading/ writing fanatic and, as so, I feel like this first entry is appropriate.

Have you ever been in the middle of a really, really, REALLY good book and all you want to do is read it? Screw the messy dishes in the sink, the fact that the dog needs to go out and that you've needed to pee for the last hour and a half, I NEED to get to the next chapter? I'm in the middle of one of those right now, which isn't surprising because I have two five page papers due next week and all I want to do is read The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in peace.

This seems to happen to most of the college students I know-- you are in the middle of a paper and/or finals warfare and all you want to do is read something completely non-school related. Scientific fact, college students procrastinate. Another fact, they choose non-school related to attach to before looking at the clock at four in the morning and thinking, oops, should have started that paper on Jane Eyre eight hours ago when I sat down to start writing it instead of watching The Little Mermaid for the 500th time.

I feel like this obsession with books isn't procrastination related...Okay, maybe a little. But I really do want to know what's going to happen. I'm in the middle of a 37-year-old murder mystery with interruptions from going to class, going to work, showering. All things that won't help me get to the end of the book.

My solution? A long, long vacation with nothing but the book, me and possibly my dog Romeo (who, despite his namesake, does not appreciate literature in the way I would like him to) so I can get to the end of that book. That's right, I'm locking the door and conquering the nearly 600 page monstrous book...Too bad Thanksgiving break is 3 weeks away.

Here's till next time.