Painkillers

So I have been having this hip problem for a few weeks. Yeah. I know, yuk, yuk - I haven't been hip for several decades. Went to the doctor, which makes me think of "Doctor, doctor give me the news. I've got a bad case of rumblin' flu..."   At least that's how I remember the words to that song. Told you I had a hip problem. The doctor recommended I undergo a constant regimen of Alleve for seven days to reduce inflammation around the bursa sac of my left hip. That seems like a good idea, however, it is taking quite a while to reduce the pain and actually feel like there is progress being made. Alleve is advertised as a pain reliever and fever reducer. That's cool. I'm glad it's not just a pain killer like Advil seems to be.

The medical establishment has long had a perhaps undeserved reputation of prescribing pain killers for a person's ailment rather than doing something about whatever is causing the pain. I was laying awake in bed the other night pondering that. I imagined the old joke about the guy that goes to the doctor and says "Doc, it hurts when I do this." and the doctor responds "Stop doing that." If you think about the joke some, however, you see the difference between the medical profession that would help resolve the problem of where the pain is coming from versus merely responding with "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning." Different punchline from a different joke which makes the "it hurts when I do this" joke not funny.

Also not funny is that this concept is the same in other areas, too. "Bureaucrat, I don't want to work, but I need money." The bureaucrat responds "Here's six hundred bucks, call me next month." "Gubmint, I'm havin' a baby, but can't afford it." The government says "Here's yer EBT card. Next." "Mortgage lender, I knows I won't be able to make da payments, but can I haz me a house, too?" And the banker says "Sure thing. Just sign with an X right here." There were more that I thought of the other night, but I can't remember them. I've slept since then, so of course the memory ain't what it used to be. I think you feel my pain, right?