Healthy Debate

Many years ago, when I was still in college, my sister in law, had said to me humorously:

"The whole world gets up, goes to work and comes back home again. But YOU every time you leave the house, you have an adventure ! " I remembered her words as I was leaving the post office yesterday.

How much trouble can a person get into while purchasing stamps and sending an express package? You buy a pack of forever stamps. Maybe pick up an application for a passport. It should not be an earth-shattering experience.

The line was quite long and stretching almost past the glass doors. There were only 2 tellers and I was surprised at how busy the place was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I cursed myself for missing today's DHL pick-up. I was going to be here a while. I had heard the question:

“Are you mailing anything perishable, dangerous, liquid or fragile..?" at least twelve times now.

But I was not the only dis-gruntled customer. There was a very tall, elderly gentleman in front of me who alternated between looking at the large clock over-head, while sighing audibly and glaring at the post office staff. Then he turned to me abruptly and said:

"Can you believe this- the cost of stamps has gone up AGAIN- how am I suppposed to stretch my pension?"

I toyed between smiling my sympathetic Dawah smile and just minding my own business.

"Kind of busy, eh?" I finally mustered up.

"Here it is," he proclaimed, pointing to the long line: " The future of our health care system"

I almost dropped the prune package.

Initially I decided to ignore him. I had come here to mail some prune samples to a Mr Liu Ping in Hong Kong and did not need to necessarily save the world that afternoon.

But eventually the face of my earnest neighbor, Nadine, came in front of me. She had been canvassing tirelessly about health care reform for weeks now, her 3 lovely children tagging along to train stations, candle-light vigils-even some door-to door visits. Nadine's mother had passed away tragically of cancer several years ago and had not had adequate health care due to a "pre-existing health condition". This had left her entire family crippled with debt, adding to the tragedy of losing a loved one. Nadine did not want this to happen to anyone else. Her stance was not that of an upstart or a radical. She just wished that people would at least wake up and have an opinion about the issue- even if it were against the reform. It was the apathy- particularly in the Muslim community that was frustrating- and the ignorance amongst the under-priveleged that was saddening.

With all that racing in my mind I dared to respond:

"So, er- do you really think that's what our health-care system will look like?"

"You can bet yer bottom dollar it is" the man replied. " This is now a fascist country"

I turned away, rather disturbed, and started to look at the array of priority mail envelopes and certified mail forms as if they were completely fascinating objects, commanding my undivided attention.

I decided there and then- henceforth, it would be DHL- or die.

Then the happy gentleman left me with the following parting gift:

" You mark my words, missy, this country is being run by a black MUZZLIM Marxist Fascist." "We're all going to hell on a handbasket."

Ah...... the common or garden red-neck, right-wing racist coming out of the wood-work. . Funny, I did not find the MUZZLIM comment offensive. I understand it has become synonymous with deviant or sociopath. I was not even surprised that the postal customer had no idea what my headscarf stood for.

I was more bothered by the paradoxical political statement. A Marxist Fascist? Didn't he know they were opposite sides on a political spectrum. They had been enemies in World War Two!

These are simply the effects that a steady diet of Fox News and wall-to-wall Monday night football is having on this nation. But these people really ARE our people. This land is my land. I feel saddest of all that the very people who are going to need a serious reform of our health-care system, for instance: the poor, the elderly ( like this gentleman) are the ones who have been brainwashed into thinking the country has been taken over by crazed minorities and that they are the oppressed ones.

I also now understand the phrase: going "postal".