Thursday:
Full. Eight. Hour. Workday.
Willpower. Who knew?!

Talk of the Nation:

  • First hour: Start of the Baseball Season. Opening day is coming and TotN was talking about it. They discussed some of the potential problems that loom over this season (possible lockout, possible shortened season, two teams who are on the chopping block). They also did a phone interview with Jim Morris, the man whom the book, The Rookie, and the movie of the same name, was written.

    My first live game was watching an Orioles-Rangers game in Memorial Stadium in Baltimore…. many, many rains ago; I think that I was 6 or 7. I went with my mom, stepfather, and one of my stepsisters. It was a night game. I remember that we were in the nosebleed seats (3rd tier) behind the plate. The O’s won.

    I think that I’ll have to catch a couple of Stingers (SLC’s minor league team, AAA affiliate of the Anaheim Angels) games this season. And at least one O’s game. Of course. And maybe a Braves game.

  • Second hour: Racial Inequalities in Health Care.

    “Minorities in this country receive lower quality health care than whites, even when they have the same medical problems, insurance coverage and income. That’s according to a new study by the Institute of Medicine. The biggest differences were found in cardiovascular disease, HIV / AIDS, cancer and diabetes. The study says reasons for these disparities include cultural differences, language barriers, stereotyping and bias.”¹

    This was an interesting segment. It was also interesting to hear from medical professionals who both have and have not experienced this tendency. A common point that seemed to run through most, if not all, of the comments was that there needs to be more “cultural competence” between doctor and patients. In discussing this with Julia, we noted that people often speak in a language that reflects their lives (i.e.: age, education, socio-economic status and/or the lack thereof). A child, when attempting to relate the way something feels may tell a doctor “…it feels like bubbles in my leg;” another person may try to relate a given pain or sensation to an activity that they enjoy. I won’t even start in on regional differences. Suffice if to say that language can be very subjective.

    It also does not help matters when doctors don’t always have enough time to sit and talk, in an actual dialogue, with the patient and their family about whatever issues surround the given ailment. I realize that this is not always a factor, but it does merit acknowledgement because it can happen. It does happen. And that isn’t fair to either party.

    Listening to this segment brought a couple of things to mind:

    1. I wish that I could have contacted my uncle and let him know about this while it was on the air. As a doctor, I would have liked to have heard his thoughts on the matter, positive and/or negative.
    2. It reminded me of the movie John Q. The circumstances of the movie were different, but there were parts of it where the problems that Denzel Washington’s character encountered seemed to echo some of the thoughts voiced in today’s discussion.

And another thing…
Jess told me that one of the managers approached her this evening and asked why I had my laptop, open, on my workstation. Jess, as does nearly everyone who knows me, knew that I was listening to assorted mp3s on it. This wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary except for three things:

  1. It is the same laptop that I have had on my desk , intermittently, for the past year-and-a-half.
  2. This is the same manager who has seen me with this same laptop on my desk, intermittently, for the past year-and-a-half.
  3. This is the same manager who has seen me with this same laptop on my desk, intermittently, for the past year-and-a-half….listening to music; the headphones are something of a dead giveaway.

Amazing. Especially given the fact that I have even mentioned something about listening to music and audiobook mp3s in this person’s presence…. on more than one occasion. *boggle*

::: gets down from soapbox pulpit :::

That’s all for tonight. Thanks for tuning in and remember to tune in tomorrow for more pulse-pounding, nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat excitement.

Peace.

¹ From the Talk of the Nation website.