# Winter's a-coming! Season of Death Mini-Rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 18, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833 "2010-09-18T09:03:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 62
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1221 "2010-12-16T02:50:59Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > According to mapquest, google, and my garmin, I actually live in the middle of a creek about three miles from where I thought I was living. Yeah, mapquest sucks too. If I ask for directions from my house to a destination, any destination, it **always** tells me to head towards a certain road 1/4th of a mile down the highway I live off of. It makes no matter if I’m going east or west - if I’m going east, it wants me to drive a 1/4 of a mile in the wrong direction and make a u-turn at that road. Why?? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1222 "2010-12-16T02:51:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > SPAMMERS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW that their bullshit conspiracy theories are designed to sell you crap remedies that don’t work and/or are hazardous to your health. My ‘crazy conspiracy theory’ is that there are no jobs for many of the postings on Career-Builder & Monster/Hot-Jobs. My theory is that the resumes received to the bogus ones go straight to Scumbag Co LLC’s SPAM Marketing Dept. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1223 "2010-12-16T02:57:24Z")
I want to stay positive. There are days when my job is OK, even days when I forget that every single phone call is recorded & reviewed by a supervisor. Yesterday wasn’t one of them. I got a call from someone who I know who needed help. I’m forbidden to touch the account of anyone I know personally, let alone assist in any way above/beyond normal. So, I gave the person the best advice I could and I dropped 10 to punt to someone else. I left notes/suggestions in the text box for the next person, but its all I could do. And now I’m getting “oh we’re not talking about You, just someone else who Sux” slagged on FB. :smack: Yes, my job Bites. No one knows that more than me. If it didn’t, maybe I could have seen Sean’s Christmas concert tonight. If it didn’t, maybe we would have been able to bring our kids to the company Xmas party the way Real employees can. If it didn’t, may be we’d get 1/2 day off before Xmas the way the rest of the company does. We don’t on all counts. But the check clears. And if our household didnt have that $ coming in, maybe it’d be me calling some poor hands-tied idiot begging for more time & wiggle room while his/her boss listens in on an earpiece. I don’t run this company. I didn’t make these rules. I’m just trying to feed my family. If my kids were starving, I probably would go into the woods & bring home Bambi too. I’m not proud or gloating; HTG, I’m just trying to get by until the economy gets better and I can work in my field (I have several; none are hiring). Its just work. Its just a job. Sure its hard, sure it sux. Its why they pay us to do it… ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1224 "2010-12-16T03:03:11Z")
wrong thread. dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1225 "2010-12-16T14:01:58Z")
Hey, news people, put a camera in my face - I’ve got a good comment on our former Premier who now has emphysema (after smoking for 50 years - that’s a big, fat “duh”) - I hope he has to wait in emergency for eight hours in pain. I hope he has to wait 18 months for surgery he needs. I hope he gets to experience the healthcare system that he made. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1226 "2010-12-16T15:58:10Z")
Ohhhhhhh but **Cat Whisperer** , you Canadians have such an _amazing_ system! You have all you could ever want out of a healthcare system: long wait times for surgery, insane ER wait times, truly horrible wait times for routine appointments. You have billboards strewn about Toronto begging people to become physicians! Why oh why can’t we lowly Americans have such wonderful socialized system! ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1227 "2010-12-16T16:58:10Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Ohhhhhhh but **Cat Whisperer** , you Canadians have such an _amazing_ system! You have all you could ever want out of a healthcare system: long wait times for surgery, insane ER wait times, truly horrible wait times for routine appointments. You have billboards strewn about Toronto begging people to become physicians! Why oh why can’t we lowly Americans have such wonderful socialized system! :rolleyes: Our ER wait times aren’t that long (she was exaggerating for effect) nor are surgery wait times (again for effect) we can get routine appointments with our docs pretty much when we want (though it is hard to find one in some areas). Wrong thread. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1228 "2010-12-16T17:13:32Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Ohhhhhhh but **Cat Whisperer** , you Canadians have such an _amazing_ system! You have all you could ever want out of a healthcare system: long wait times for surgery, insane ER wait times, truly horrible wait times for routine appointments. You have billboards strewn about Toronto begging people to become physicians! Why oh why can’t we lowly Americans have such wonderful socialized system! It’s no where near the shit that poor Americans have to deal with, so STFU. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1229 "2010-12-16T17:52:10Z")
Considering I’m having to wait until March to get in to my nurse practitioner for my gyn annual (though I’m not too upset at having it put off, honestly) and considering there are incentives here to encourage people to become doctors and practice here, and considering the number of times I’ve sat in ERs for five or more hours with a husband having chest pains indicative of heart trouble, and considering we had to wait five or more hours in the waiting room of his cardiologist because there aren’t enough cardiologists in the area and his was the best one, and considering that people regularly go without any medical care at all, even insured people, anyone touting the US system is an absolute fucking idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1230 "2010-12-16T17:55:34Z")
But we have the best health care in the world on the metric of… um… of BEING AMERICAN!!! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1231 "2010-12-16T17:59:11Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Our ER wait times aren’t that long (she was exaggerating for effect) Sadly, ours can be. (Ohio) > [@](#): > > nor are surgery wait times (again for effect) Sadly, ours can be. (Still Ohio.) > [@](#): > > we can get routine appointments with our docs pretty much when we want Sadly, we can’t. (Yet again, Ohio.) > [@](#): > > (though it is hard to find one in some areas). True here too. (Rah, Ohio.) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1232 "2010-12-16T18:01:15Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > But we have the best health care in the world on the metric of… um… of BEING AMERICAN!!! > > USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! Maybe they could hand out little American flags in the ER so we can wave them as we wait. One for each hand so we can use semaphore if we think we’re going to be dead soon. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1233 "2010-12-16T18:02:42Z")
Silly Dopers. Of COURSE the Canadian system sucks. It’s socialism (or socialism run amok, or whatever the current right-wing meme is). Now don’t bother anyone with your silly facts. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1234 "2010-12-16T18:16:03Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Maybe they could hand out little American flags in the ER so we can wave them as we wait. One for each hand so we can use semaphore if we think we’re going to be dead soon. [You may wish to study this.](http://inter.scoutnet.org/cgi-bin/semanim?font=font0&text=sorry+about+all+the+blood) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1235 "2010-12-16T18:28:23Z")
I’m learning a few for [special occasions](http://inter.scoutnet.org/cgi-bin/semanim?font=font0&text=Please+don%27t+trip+over+my+severed+arm). ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1236 "2010-12-16T18:33:28Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Considering I’m having to wait until March to get in to my nurse practitioner for my gyn annual (though I’m not too upset at having it put off, honestly) and considering there are incentives here to encourage people to become doctors and practice here, and considering the number of times I’ve sat in ERs for five or more hours with a husband having chest pains indicative of heart trouble, and considering we had to wait five or more hours in the waiting room of his cardiologist because there aren’t enough cardiologists in the area and his was the best one, and considering that people regularly go without any medical care at all, even insured people, anyone touting the US system is an absolute fucking idiot. lindsay’s not touting yours, she’s bashing ours. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1237 "2010-12-16T18:40:58Z")
I know it’s not exacly swimming season, but I was quite upset to see a “Pool Closed: Unsafe For Use” sign posted on the gate to the apartment’s cement pond. The owner decided he doesn’t want to pay those pesky pool maintenance bills in the off-season, and now there’s a pile of rotting leaves decorating the bottom. Nothing like a hole that looks like a sewage pit and a big health department notice to make the place look real classy for Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1238 "2010-12-16T18:52:59Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > lindsay’s not touting yours, she’s bashing ours. Isn’t it funny how that managed to escape…everyone but you? It’s also hilarious that **Kolga** calls what I’ve said a “right wing meme”. Um, sweetheart, what the _fuck_ is the Canadian system if not socialized medicine? It also escaped someone else who thinks that because her dead husband had huge medical issues she is now the be all end all of knowledge of American medical care. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1239 "2010-12-16T18:55:34Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Nothing like a hole that looks like a sewage pit and a big health department notice to make the place look real classy for Christmas. Oh come on, give it time! I bet you’ll get green sludge \*and \*red sludge. Very festive. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833/1240 "2010-12-16T19:00:43Z")
The problem, **linds[del]e[/del]ay**, is that your point appears to be that people in the U.S. who want a system like Canada’s are idiots. Except that their system, while not perfect, it still \*much \*better than ours. Have you ever met a Canadian who wished they had American health insurance? “Socialized medicine” is a “right-wing meme” because it’s used as a scare tactic. We \*already have \*“socialized medicine,” where everybody with insurance pays for everybody else’s care. It just gets routed through incredibly inefficient middlemen–or rather, middlemen who are very efficient at making money for themselves. See also discussions about “rationing,” as though there were currently an infinite supply of health care in the U.S. that would disappear if we moved away from the current system, versus changing to rationing care by need instead of by net worth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/winters-a-coming-season-of-death-mini-rants/554833.md?page=63)