Growing pains. Tina 2.0 got off the slab because of Nudge. Now, the 2.1 collective has to make her (their?) own decisions, especially in the light of Phix’s awareness of Tina’s location, and Tina’s awareness of the consequences of Phix’s purpose!
The *people* of that insurance company had to intercede and override the *corporation* to do ‘the right thing’.
And the people lower on the ladder, at that. Hopefully, Phix and/or Tina can also take steps to make sure those people aren’t made the scapegoats for it.
Coming in late so I stayed out of the “corporations = people” debate yesterday. But to those who believe that garbage, I say this: talk to me when corporations can be imprisoned, or face the death penalty. And don’t waste my time talking about dissolving a corporation because not only has it not happened in recent history involuntarily, but there’s nothing stopping the same signatories from turning around and forming a new corporation the same damned day.
Looks like some of us were right and Tina hates using her demon powers to control other, It also looks like those that thought Phix had taken a liking to Tina and just wants to help her were also right.
This makes me wonder though if the ideas that Phix told Tina that she was lucky she did not remember included something about using demon influence to help people instead of harming them.
IIRC, the “idea” that Tina didn’t remember had something to do with achieving a kind of blank-slate/fresh-start…maybe even a level of mortality (not sure on that part). She doesn’t remember all of the timelines like other demons do after all…
Tina made her decision, acted, and accepts responsibility with the possible consequences. That makes her an adult person. The fact that she isn’t remotely human, is irrelevant.
Oh Tina, I am SO right there with you, but when Bean Counters are put in charge of people’s health, and put the Beans before the health…
Well, sometimes people need a reminder. Well Done, Tina.
They’re not really putting the Beans before somebodies health… they’re putting the beans before them losing they’re JOBS, and thus having NO Beans themselves… just like Mr. Incredible’s mild-mannered cover identity working at an insurance company, if that insurance agent approves too many payouts, they’d find a way to get rid of him because he’s costing the company too much in the profit margin, he knows this, so to prevent him from getting fired, he doesn’t approve anything until directed from on high… and therefore it might only LOOK like he’s a heartless SOB that doesn’t care about somebodies health issues, he may sympathize with the victim, but not enough to want to make him risk his job.
…Did you seriously just defend the boss guy from The Incredibles? >_>
It’s one thing to make a statement like that about actual people, but his sole purpose in that movie was to be a heartless dick. There wasn’t a deeper meaning there. You aren’t supposed to sympathize with him, you’re supposed to hate him. That was his purpose.
The problem with that line of reasoning is that at some level there is a person or persons who made the decision to put the beans before health.
It may not be the front line grunts on the phone lines, it may not even be their bosses above them.
But someone who has no worries about getting their asses fired made the decision to say “I don’t care that some doctor said that three doses are what is required to cure this condition. All *we’re* going to pay for is two.” or “I don’t care if [insulin brand x] doesn’t work very well for this patient. [Insulin brand y] costs more than “X” does and so we’re not going to pay for it.”
Or my favorite “So what if it will reduce the number of emergency visits this patient will have to contend with. Who cares if it will reduce the cost of their diabetes care in the long term. There is no @#$%ign way in Hell we’re paying out $1,200 for an insulin pump that will improve the health of the patient.
All of these scenarios are what I’ve had to face with insurance companies on a personal level. The pump thing is the prime example. $1,200 plus the consumables for it and doctor’s care would save them $300 a year in the unexpected doctor’s visits and ER trips.
While I certainly feel your pain (I have several medications that only provide mediocre results because the “good stuff” isn’t covered under my plan), the unfortunate fact is that this is how insurance works. If the companies (or the people running them) were magnanimous 100% of the time (as I’m fairly certain most decent human beings would want to be since we’ve all experienced how much not being covered sucks), then the chances are very high that they would be paying out more money than they would bring in. I’m not a business expert or anything, but I believe that situations like that result in a company going under.
The true problem, from my limited experience, seems to be in the cost of prescriptions and medical care…and from what I’ve heard from doctors, they’ve had to drive up their prices for services to cover themselves in the event of a malpractice suit. A simple mistake…misreading of lab results…misdiagnosis due to incomplete information…can result in a practice being drained by legal proceedings. The same can be said of the pharmaceutical companies…though I’d imagine that some of the chemical compunds they create aren’t cheap to begin with… Granted, some lawsuits in the medical world are completely legit (like those poor people who had medical instruments left inside them after surgery), but some are unfair.
So really, I tend to steer my grumblings about health care to the people who are lawsuit-happy.
The malpractice insurance claim is essentially false (conveniently shifting hate to those inhuman lawyer bastards). Malpractice suits make up a vanishingly small part of the costs of healthcare. The real problem is the social and financial role of being a doctor. Doctors are overpaid, and are given disproportionate respect for their profession (ever notice how Ron Paul’s supporters always mention that he’s a medical doctor). One result of this is that medical education is overvalued and overpriced, forcing students to take on tremendous debt loads (and generally specializing in the most lucrative if not necessarily most essential fields) and thus raising the cost of care. Insurance companies have a number of workarounds for this, but the major one is either not insuring or not covering (or at least not paying out) the most expensive treatments (which, it turns out, are not heroic lifesaving measures but chronic, quality of life type issues). Getting everyone covered by the same insurance plan would help tremendously. Having doctors expected to simply be salaried employees would also help. Reducing the costs of medical education to bring it into line with these ideas would help. But, short of magic, the transition to such a system would be unendurably painful for, essentially, the entire economy.
That’s actually good to learn re: malpractice suits not being the problem anymore. The costs of education and whatnot certainly is not an aspect that has been presented to me before.
I still think that if the costs of services dropped, then it would solve a lot of problems, but you’re right…it would take a miracle to fix all of the issues that lead to the higher costs in the first place.
Except that you are *still* having people who are not medically trained making decisions that have an effect on patient health and who have the power to override the decisions of those people that *are*.
You have an accountant who has the power to override a doctor.
And let me expand on this a little. The first example? The three doses needed but will only cover two?
The medication is one pill per dose. The cost per pill is slightly more than a dollar. I know this because my hospital doesn’t even bother to involve the insurance company because the cost is less than my prescription co-pay of $5 for generics.
And in the case of the two types of insulin? We’ve recently had to use three insurance companies. My wife’s for the first two, mine when I got hired at the hospital.
The first one said “Really, Lantus works better than Levamir and by spending a little more per vial keeps the patient our of the doctor’s offices, Urgent Care Centers and Emergency rooms for those all too frequent crisis visits thus saving us far more money than we save? Sure…dispense that sucker.”
Then the company wife worked at changed insurance to go with a cheaper company who said “What? Lantus costs more than Levamir? Who gives a flying toss that it works better and was prescribed by the Joslin Diabetes Center and their highly trained endocrinologists! We sure don’t! Levamir us good enough for them!”
When I was hired and had the better (and cheaper) insurance we dropped the wife’s and put her on mine. An insurance that said “Are you sure you can’t use Levamir? It’s cheaper you know. Oh…you were on it for a while it it it sucks compared to Lantus your doctor wants you on. Ok, but we’re going to have to charge you a little more.”
Which out of the three…seems to be the most sensible compromise between the two viewpoints. I like an insurance company that says “Are you *really* sure you can’t use this over that?” and then bumps up the co-pay to the next level for non-generic, name branded medications as opposed to just making an arbitrary decision.
@skruddgemire – Well what you’re describing boils down to the quality of the company and plan you have to work with… Unfortunately there are companies out there that are more motivated by the almighty $ than by what works or can be compromised without harming the business. I’d be exceptionally surprised if the guidelines for what is and isn’t approved does not undergo a review by medical professionals of some grade before it becomes official policy. Goodness knows that if you go through any kind of review or appeal process on an policy decision, they bring in experts…or at least that’s what I’ve seen happen.
What I have been told when I’ve contacted my health insurance company regarding drugs that are and aren’t covered is that their policy says that the generic is pushed when it is found to be effective for the majority of patients. Brand-name prescriptions may or may not be covered on one of the more expensive tiers based on how new the drug is, how prevalent its use is, how many tests it has undergone, and/or if there are any concerns regarding its use. The nasal spray that works best for me? Wasn’t a top-tier drug when it was covered, but they dropped it because some potential concerns came up about its side-effects or something along those lines. I only use the “good stuff” when I can get a tester bottle of it from the doctor. Otherwise I use something that’s more expensive and less effective than the “good stuff” was (generics do diddly squat for me).
So like I said…feel you pain, but don’t think that the people making decisions are always more interested in money than the welfare of their clientele. It wouldn’t pay for them not to care at least somewhat…
Unfortunately, there’s a lot about the modern business environment (think “stock price, based largely on the most recent financial statement”) which tends to keep companies focused on the bottom line for the next quarter.
“Long term” planning means they’re thinking about next year. Two or three or five years out… not even on the radar.
Thank you for reminding me again how lucky I am to live in a civilised country where medical care doesn’t depend on having the right job, and when they rush you to hospital the first question at the desk isn’t “Who’s paying for this?”
I’ll admit that Eagleland has it’s faults. I regard our patchwork for profit healthcare system as one of them. But it has it’s perks, too. In the morning I could get in my car and drive north to New England, a little over one thousand miles. Or I could go west to Colorado, another thousand mile trip. Haven’t been there for over twenty years since my time in the Army. I could keep going to California or Oregon or Washington State. And in the dozens of borders I would cross, the only note that I had arrived at a different political entity would be a sign welcoming me to the state I had entered. No papers. No passport. No one giving me a second look in a thousand plus miles of travel. Not to many other places on Earth you can do that.
“Its the little things that are most important. Not to worry about, but simply to remember.”- I forget who said it, but it rings true on so many levels.
“Hospitals cannot turn you away from being treated.”
You are so very wrong. To quote you again from that same post, “the propoganda you must get” wherever it is you live.
I *WAS* turned away from 3 different hospitals because I was uninsured. Never mind that I had a gall stone, a massive one. Never mind that the pain would keep me awake at night, in tears, wishing the pain would stop. Never mind that the pain at first appeared to be a heart attack.
One of those hospitals that turned me away was the VA, because although I am a vet they are underfunded and I am am not living in the street so I have to find my own way.
I was uninsured because we thought I *was* insured but then found out the hard way that my wife’s provider had refused my application (no “qualifying event” since the application was filed over a year past when I lost my job and when we were married) without actually telling us that they did, and this was only a few months later so we just hadn’t realized that the premiums hadn’t changed (auto deductions).
What you might mean to say is that the emergency rooms cannot turn away someone who is in imminent danger. True. But waiting for that point not only risks death (such as if my gall bladder ruptured from the egg-shaped stone they later found in it) but costs *FAR* more than if the condition were preemptively treated earlier on.
Like in my case, how many trips to the ER for the pain, to be given a pain medication (at ten times the cost) and told to contact my doctor (yeah right … who?!?) as soon as possible before I finally have the visit where my gall bladder is in process of rupture?
And those costs get passed to everyone else, through higher local/state taxes, higher premiums, higher base costs from the providers, etc.
Your argument is spoken like someone who either has never (good for you, if so) had to deal with this situation … or did but was lucky enough to be covered or completely oblivious to the actual effects.
Thankfully in my case I went all the way to my hometown hospital and they were able to take me on faith as long as I paid $2000 up front and trusted me for the rest. Still wish I had an insurance company or *someone* to go over the bills and negotiate the charges.
No, my VA case is an example of what happens when politicians pander to their base about cutting costs, depending on those voters to not pay attention where the money is being cut from.
You think insurance companies don’t do the same thing? At least with government health care they can be held accountable at the ballot box. With insurance companies they just snicker as they watch you go to another provider, knowing full well the first words out of your new provider’s mouth will be “preexisting condition”.
In a single payer system there is no such thing as a preexisting condition because you’re always with the same overall provider. And with a government-run single payer system you will have always paid in through your taxes, so no such thing as “free riders” anymore, waiting until they’re sick before they start paying in.
The only downside is getting the voters to wake up and keep an eye on the representatives they elected to oversee it, instead of thinking they can just take a nap while they watch tv instead.
Indeedy 🙂
Thanks for digging that out. Great sequence (followed by another favourite of mine, Bud vs Kevin in the bed). Love Tina’s expressions there as well.
Wow! This past one , and Todays describes the “discussion” (read argument) we were having at work about ‘Obamacare’. Just thought I’d mention this. Not editorializing or anything. 😉
Thank you for that link, STB – especially since two days prior to that (yeah sometimes I backread from a link, heh), there was a strip in that same sequence that answers my pondering from a couple days ago.
I was wondering if just talking them into it was inherently bad, but Tina long ago told us that wasn’t an automatic dealbreaker with the sphinxes, unless harm resulted from it.
Tina’s demon collective, working together in unison, develop a conscience.
Shelly’s demons, fused together into Creepy Girl, become Conscience.
Perhaps conscience and ethics and empathy develop precisely because of the interaction and balancing of conflicting primal impulses and drives? (whether demonic, psychological, or neurological)
It seems to me that Tina and Connie need some time to compare notes on the changing of a demon collective into a person and all the emotional changes that they go through before this is all over
It is unfortunate, but I know exactly why the insurance companies, doctors, and pharmacists are so hesitant to automaticly replace ‘lost’ meds.
I have worked as a hospital telephone operator for nineteen years. Part of that responsibility is the after-hours messaging service for many of the doctors and dentists offices in town. The amount of prescription fraud attempted every week is truly staggaring. We (operators, doctors, pharmacists) have heard every ‘lost’ story – and after a while you realize there is so much fraud that sounds just like the truth that you can’t tell anymore. It makes you cynical, suspicious and – unhelpful. Luckily I don’t have to do ought but deliver messages to and fro; most medical offices will not even listen to a routine refill request after closing hours.
You can recognize the patterns….the same phone number calling different doctors after closing, but each has a different name, and a different complaint…..
And you know what? It’s against Federal Law to clue in one of the doctors if we see that pattern. It violates the ‘patients’ PRIVACY to tell the doc that this same voice with six names and complaints, but one phone number, has tried to shake down five of his colleagues already tonight. (the HIPPA Law)
I dislike being made an accessory to prescription fraud, or any other crime. I especially dislike that it’s federally mandated that I do so.
I’m sorry about the rant. The point is, I understand their point of view. They would like to do the right thing, and be helpful; it’s just so difficult to know when you’re helping, and when you’re only enabling.
From experience (as I am líving in one of those blasted Commie-Maoist European Socialist hell-holes of poverty&despair…) Not a problem. You can either phone Your own Family Doctor, or the weekend replacement, and they’ll arrange that the night-apothecary has the required medicine ready.
No need to fraud, or lie. Everybody gets their medicine and teatment largely covered, so here is no need to try to get meds through someone else. The cost of medicine, especially psychiatric drugs, are fully re-imbursed through our single-payer/private insurance (privatized insurance is VERY strictly monitored overhere by the Government)
Most people with “known”addictions, are under close monitoring by, either a psychiatrist, or their own family-doctor, so they can expect a visit to “check-up” on them..
(..)And if there is a difference, is the cause institutional, or cultural, or maybe both?(..)
Good question! I think the answer is : They’re intrinsically linked.
Wide and equal availability of care for éveryone, has a profound impact on People’s “anxt” I would call it.
If medical troubles are unlikely to bankrupt someone, it tends to make people, well “happier”
It’s hard to explain, but not having to worry about medical costs, makes for examople, for a litigation-poor society. Seuing hardly happens overhere, and people are, on average, less into this “kill or be killed” mentality.
It’s hard to explain to an American audience. Maybe the Brits in here can chime-in?
There is a reason the countries with single-payer, or socialized healthcare, are ALWAYS in the top 10 of all sorts of “happieness” indexes and research.
Well.. that’s as “political” as I will get. As it is somewhat dangerous to assert all sorts of stuff about The US, not having lived there. My Mom did, but that was in the 60’s….
The situation here is not so rosy, we still have to pay, but prescription drugs come at a discount (generally available drugs are discounted as well, if you have prescription).
And my country’s definitely not a “litigation-free” society…
Mind you, healthcare here is not fully universal, you receive it if you have a job or registered as a dependent. If out of job, you may pay a monthly fee to stay in the system.
I see. We (Netherlands) pay a flat-fee base insurance, and can choose to buy extensions for f.i. dental care, prescription glasses, coverage for cosmetic procedure etc.
Funny enough, Psychiatric help in áll shapes and forms is fully covered in the base-package.
However, the “flat fee”is the same for high-earners as it is for low-earners. That’s the lobby of private insurers at work. It is a rather contested part of the Dutch healthcare-system. Luckily the Government started to pay part of it for the lower incomes.
The “for profit” healthcare was a total bust when tried in the 90’s, so this hybrid system took it’s place. It kinda works.
‘If medical troubles are unlikely to bankrupt someone, it tends to make people, well “happier” ‘
And if the worst does happen, it’s less bad. When my wife was dying in hospital, she consoled me with the thought that it could be worse: we could be in America. (As an office temp and a self-employed jeweller, there’s no way we could ever have qualified for or bought insurance.)
“Self employed jeweller”? Aha! Nów Your screen-name clicks.
Made me check-out Your wares…..
…wow! Great stuff!!
Very sorry about Your wife. Made me think of my Dad. He got Myloïd Leukemia, had to have blood-transfusions every 3 weeks. Lost his lower leg ,had to revalidate for a year to be at least able to walk with his fancy prosthyesis, upto his last days.
When he finally passed-away, my siblings and me were very happy that there had been universal coverage for him.
Otherwise not only Hé, but wé also, would have been bankrupt. We saw the bills going to the insurer.
Suffice to say, they would have paid for a nice cottage in The Cotswolds..and thén some.
Well, in Hungary’s case, you’d need to persuade your family doctor to give you another prescription, not a buerocrat. If you’re not a lunatic (or percieved as such), it should go easier. Some drugs might only be prescribed by specialists, though, but it’s still your doctor you’ll have to talk to if you lose the meds.
Ah, yes! much better than my japping. Indeed the family doctor is the key, nót the insurer or some other pencil-pusher.
Family doctor/therapist decides, and insurer hás to follow.
Another question for folks like Jay-Em and Yarner42…
Do you guys have prescription fraud in the form of people getting access to controlled substances for sale to people who don’t need the meds? I medicate for ADD, and my prescription is made of speed (among other things). I know lots of people who would pay me for my pills just to get high (I used to get approached by people all the time in college and at my first salaried job).
Do you see that happening in your countries…where there aren’t as many roadblocks to getting your hands on meds?
That and certain ADD meds are precursors to Meth. We had one parent in OR send her kids to school the first month of school after feeding them Coca cola and frosted flakes for breakfest so the teachers would write that the kids were hyper so they would get ritalin… they got it and she used it to cook meth… Nice.
No, not really. Speed is more easily (and often even cheaper!! Big Pharma is fiddling with the prices too) obtainable via the illegal channels.
Most people that use a “speed” derivative, keep their mouths shut, as advised by most doctors.
I guess it does happen every now & then, but for the junkies it’s a rather expensive way to get their hands on it via people with a prescription. Contradictionary as it may sound.
It’s the net-result of a government policy to not come down too hard on soft-drugs, speed (cocaine is another matter) and their users.
It keeps the price in the illegal cirquit very véry low, so no-one is prepared to pay through the nose to get it from someone with a prescription.
Being a junkie and using illegal drugs is’nt punishable by law too.
It’s all inter-connected, and so far it has kept our society pretty stable and violence free. The recent shootings (You might have heard about it) were the exeption to the norm, and were in NO way connected to drug-abuse, even if right-wingers tried to tie it to drugs, it didn’t fly.
It was a problem of some psycologically troubled people that got their hands on semi-auto’s through lax police scrutiny of local gun-clubs, and police-academies..
Well, the inter-connectedness of Policy, drug regulation, medical insurance etc etc. ,as it works here, is rather complex, and completely impossible to correctly describe in a single post. Whole libraries have been written full. (Phix prolly has some copies)
It’s even harder to describe -let alone in a comprehensible way- to someone from a wholly different base-culture.
Because, face it, The States (and GB to some extent) might look deceivingly the same as mainland Europe, but néver make the mistake of thinking that popular culture defines the social, and cultural heart of a country.
There is the Anglo-Saxon way, and there is the European (or even “Scandinavian”) way, and they differ like night & day when cutting away the superficial layers of popular culture.
Sorry, I really don’t know that much about this part of the story. As far as I can tell, known addicts are handled with care by their doctors (it’s a specialist, not the family doctor), and pharmacies keep the “harder” drugs under special scrutiny – which of course, implies that people try to get the drugs (hence the precautions) and that money is also involved (pharmacists who handle the keys to the cabinet holding the addictive substances are held personally responsible for the inventory…
But as far as I can tell, it’s not a major business. The buzzword in the media these days are the new substances that don’t fit under the anti-drug laws.
I want to make clear that not all Rx requests are automatically assumed to be fraudulent; routine requests are deffered to the office the next day, and acute need-of-care calls are given to the docs. The majority of the fraudulent calls are for pain meds to dentists and orthopedics,or stuff with mood-altering effects. The scammers are addicts or dealers (or both – never be your own best customer) and fit a certain profile (yes, there’s that dirty ‘P’ word). If a doctor can’t memorize all his patients, that’s what ‘smartronics’ are for.
We have never had an issue with an established patient with common sense ever being mistaken for a ‘frequent flier’
I don’t comment much (though I do enjoy reading the daily comments). I just love Tina so much here… it amazes me that she actually sticks to a higher moral ground than most people (probably even myself).
As for lost medication… happened to me once. I got a prescription filled, got a taxi home from the doctor instead of taking the bus, and left my medicine in the taxi. Didn’t get to use it even once. I had to buy the medicine again, sans insurance, and it was so expensive that i ate nothin but eggs and lettuce the rest of the month. Insurance refused to cover it again. But I needed that medicine badly- anti seizure medicine. Believe me I understand how crappy the situation is…. So glad Tina was willing to help Becky out even if it meant breaking a few moral rules and possible the person who gave her the medicine.
That being said, there does need to be some leeway for accidents and malice. I am not saying that they should be forced to pay for a new script each and every-time something happens, but to give a do over or so once in a while can be a godsend. Keep a database and if the person has not had an incident in a certain amount of time, then give it to them. That is all I’m saying.
They exercised personal responsibility in having the insurance in the first place, did they not? 😉
If this were a frequent occurrence, I would agree – that person either needs to learn to be more careful, or perhaps consider whether they need assistance for living on their own.
But every little accident? Shocker: this is real life, stuff happens. The whole reason for having insurance in the first place is to be covered when stuff happens. 😉
How would accidentally losing/destroying/etc your meds be any different than the event that caused you to need it in the first place?
On one of those examples – I have seen employers reissue checks that were lost, albeit with a deduction for the cost to have the bank stop payment on the original (just like how I would expect the pharmacy to charge the copay again on resissued meds).
Not saying it’s the provider’s responsibility – I’m just saying I wouldn’t write it off as the penalty for irresponsibility of the patient. If for no other reason than in a case of mental illness, the world in general around them is better off if they get their meds so yes, please – get them a new dose.
Granted – we don’t know all the details. Maybe Becky has had a habit of losing her meds, innocently thru accident. In which case I could see the insurance provider saying “cmon now, either get an automated dispenser, or a hire a nurse”. But looking over the experiences I have had over a variety of issues with different companies – excuse me if I find it easy to believe that she would get cold treatment for little (if any) reason at all.
That is the companies’ faults IMHO for not doing a better job of making it patently obvious to their customers that they actually give a damn, you know? For example, I’ll give the oil companies credit – I have my issues with them, but at least lately they have done a better job of presenting themselves. That’s a start.
True as far as it goes. But more to the point, “People shouldn’t have to be made to do the right thing.” We live in an imperfect world, Tina dear, humans and other things alike. I’m on the wrong side of the screen to give you the hug you deserve. Try talking to Monica; I hear her busty mom hugs are pretty comforting.
In his song “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward”, Billy Bragg says “In a perfect world we’d all sing in tune, but this is reality, so give me some room.”
Beat me to it. No, people shouldn’t have to be made to do the right thing, but if they won’t do it on their own, let’em grit their teeth and live with the “tyranny”.
True, but “right” itself can be subjective, and sometimes the world requires the “wrong” thing to happen to make any progress.
In Comic Example: Calendar Machine. Most people would agree stabbing your best friend in the skull, especially when you are not sure she’ll survive the attack, is the “wrong” thing to do. But, if Shelly didn’t do just that, we’d be entering the next cycle again rather soon (assuming the physical world wasn’t overrun by demons, ala the Doubts plan).
Very simple – this is an example of Pablo trying to focus on a secondary character (Tina), to move the plot towards some unseen climax that we, the readers, won’t see for… (looks at his calendar) …what year is this again?
Yup. This development will no doubt prove to be significant (and perhaps very important) somewhere down the road. Paul is good about building the supporting legs for his furniture 🙂
Meta-message: Tina is not a “spear carrier” (a secondary or tertiary character, often disposable, introduced solely as a mechanical plot contrivance to frame actions by the primary characters… think “Star Trek Security redshirt of the week”).
I don’t think any regular readers would have mistaken Tina for one of those… but the little exposition we’ve been treated to in the last couple of weeks should eliminate any doubt. Tina’s depth as a character has just had a really deluxe upgrade!
This sort of character growth (in both senses of “character”) is one of the things I appreciate most about Wapsi Square… three and four dimensions, shown via a two-dimensional midium.
Not to minimize Monica’s role, but her primary purpouse regarding the calander machine has been fullfilled. Phix pretty much told her that she’s more or less moving into a suppourting role. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/in-the-center/
I’ll point out that Tina has a better Wapsi Wiki page than Monica herself. (Shelly, too, for that matter.) Tina’s a primary cast member and everything, although that just shows she’s been around a while – man, that thing’s old.
Meanwhile, seeing Tina with her eyes closed is enough to give me pause. Either they’re her usual mischievious silver spirals, or they’re gaping black holes.
That’s not what she’s upset about though. She’s not upset they didn’t do the right thing of their own free will. She’s upset that she took away their free will and MADE them do something, whether it was the “right thing” or not.
Both. People shouldn’t have to be pushed into doing the right thing, and at the same time Tina is unhappy that she did push people into doing what was, yes, helpful to others and right. But she would rather have not needed to push.
By the lights of the other sphinxes Phix may _be_ bent for mentoring, not just a demon, but a demon collective.
You have to wonder just what their thinking now.
Hooray for Tina, anyway!! She helped a friend who had difficulty helping herself. THAT is what friendship is about. Thru the good, rip-snorting fun times and the deep-blue, stink-eye sucky times, you are there for your friends. NQA!
Serious Cat ate the canary vibe from Phix in that panel. Dunno if it’s the neck or the teeth to be honest lol.
And poor Tina. You have the power to make people do what you want, you make them do the right thing, but you still MADE them do it. So no matter how well intentioned or “right” it was it was still by your influence.
Few people I work with take great pride and sadistic pleasure in being able to do that, the fact she seems to be having a moral quandary regarding the issue is really telling.
Phix is starting to piss me off. She consistently treats Tina like prey or a convicted Felon and yet her primary issue was with Nudge, not the Tina Collective.
(Side note, do we know how many demons are in there? If we do, can we start calling her Tina of X?)
I think I’d like to see Phix run into something that views HER as a potential snack. It’d do her some good to have that perspective.
Phix is the sweetest of the parole officers sphinxes, and considers herself as the lowest on the sphinx totem pole.
Phix gets what it means to be coerced, whether it’s for the right thing or the wrong thing. Coercion is generally suckass, but it also allows for civilization.
How is this appearance by Phix “treating Tina like prey”? I see it as an appearance that is meant to reassure Tina that she’s not going to be in trouble for what she did.
As far as Phix’s feelings about Tina remember that right after the “Nudge-ectomy” she gave a very sincere and heartfelt apology about the treatment she gave her. That is not the action of a predator for prey. Likewise I do not see this exchange as a negative exchange. I see it as Phix doing her best “Mentor to Tina” bit.
Tina’s mistaken in thinking that people shouldn’t be made to do the “right thing”. Force is usually the only way to make the “right thing” happen, guess that’s because the “right thing” usually has the least preceived benefits to the one doing it.
(1) Defining “the right thing” is very tricky indeed. In many situations, reasonable people can disagree greatly on what the right of correct or best action is. Most times, those who must make that choice, must do so without complete information, and may force a “right thing” that has unexpected consequences.
(2) Compulsion denies the person being compelled, the right to choose. It turns them from a person, into a tool… into a thing.
It’s a hard decision to make (or it should be) when you “force the right thing”. It may actually be “necessary” and “for the best” but it always comes at a cost and conveys a serious responsibility.
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
Tina sees this, I think. Her power gives her the ability to play God with peoples’ lives, and I think the weight of that responsibility has just hit her shoulders in a big way.
Also, by turning a person into a tool (removing their right to choose and forcing them to do the “right thing”) it negates some of the “right” out of the action. I may not be saying this well, but it’s rather like what a good friend once told me… “The good deeds you do only count when you don’t remember them, or you aren’t compelled to tell someone about them.” The premise is that the intention of the “right action” also is important.
If you do a good thing for selfish or bad reasons, is it really a good thing you have done?
I agree–and it isn’t quite as bleak as it seems. After all,
deep down, everyone involved knew [this] was the right thing to do”–she just facilitated their ability to do what they knew was right, not forcing them to do something they knew was wrong and thereby taking away their choice.
Speaking of ‘doing the right thing’ , there was a report on the local news that EMS in area are haveing trouble keeping thier Paramedics supplied with the drugs the state requires them to carry like NARCAN – used to reverse narcotic Overdoses. Reason is its cheap and inexpensive and the drug companies don’t make money on them so they’re not makeing as much or ceaseing production. Nice huh?
probably because the EMT’s don’t use “enough” of it to warrant them continuing it’s production, as there may be other drug /treatments out there that do the same thing and if they raise the prices, that will be the final straw to make the customers shift to those drugs vs theirs… that is until the other company gets bought out in order to force the issue…
Awww. Tina, people are forced to do the ‘right’ thing all the time by laws. Laws which if you happen to break them are enforced by the threat of prison applied by something erroneously called ‘The Justice System’ which neither cares about nor seeks ‘justice’, but only cares about following proper procedure. Kinda like any bureaucracy I’ve ever studied. Tina you’re a bunch of demons, you saw a problem, declared yourself Tyrant, solved the problem by caring about the result, not the procedure, then abdicated like Cincinnatus and returned to civilian life. Bravo.
More like curious cat. I think she’s bemused by demons that are feeling bad about doiung what the demon species as a whole a ment to do. She’s probably also ammused by her cordial relationship with something that is supposed to be her prey. Neither Tina or Phix are filling the roles nature intended for them.
If “the right thing was done and no one was hurt” why isn’t Phix at Health Ins. Corporate Headquarters making the entrance steps slippery with rivers of freshly spilt blood… or does she need entities that actually once pocessed a soul?
Those eyes Phix, like a cat calculating the hunt of a caged bird.
Some people want to do the Right Thing, but for some reason, are afraid to take that extra step. They just need a little Nudge, or at least her room-mates.
I think you’re being too hard on Tina. She is using her power responsibly, with appropriate control–which shows that she’s growing into maturity. It’s when she uses it in bad ways, or to excess that she needs curbing.
There’s more than one way to skin a moral dilemma, or to restrain a feral demon collective.
Yes, Phix could come down hard on Tina… veiled and overt threats, explicitly “drawing the line” that Tina is not allowed to pass. “Young lady, if you ever do that again, I’ll send you to Gehenna without your supper, forever!”
Or, Phix can act in a way which will reinforce Tina’s own internal realization of the OK / not-OK boundary.
The former is like disciplining a child… enforcing an external discipline. The latter is like dealing with an adult, strengthening the adult’s own internal discipline.
My guess (and we’ll see in the days to come) is that Phix is doing the latter. Her words feel sort of like a “devil’s advocate” argument… she’s probing to see whether Tina is going to be defensive and justify her actions, or whether Tina realizes just how dangerous her behavior was.
Tina rejected the “easy out” that Phix offered her (the “no harm, no foul” and “it was in a good cause” excuses). Tina feels that what she did was fundamentally wrong. That shows the development of a moral sense which could be a much stronger limit on her future behavior, than any amount of sphinx-scaring could be. I sorta expect Phix to make this point in the next day or two.
Of greater concern is that Tina willing to turn down business. That’s really unlike her.
That “sweetness and light” coming off of Phix are her taste buds illuminated by the glint of her fangs. That’s what Tina saw in her coming in the door: Phix isn’t here to even kill. She’s here to play!
Tina doesn’t want to fill that order. It’s a human-scale dilemma, and she’s still a tangle of tentacles and skulls that are having a hard time fitting into her skin.
The whole canard of “intentions” assumes that one has clear and just choices to begin with, and life is never so Spenserian. Demons usually just don’t worry about the consequences of their influence, but now she must.
Well, Tina has got the altruism thing down. She knew that what she had to do was fundamentally wrong but was willing to do it knowing (incorrectly as it turned out) that she would be killed for it. Not only a human trait but a rare one at that.
Pablo, just a heads-up, but the site’s got a wandering flash nuisance from something called VoiceFive. You may want to have a word with the ad providers.
in my mind it’s “people shouldn’t HAVE TO be made to do the right thing”… but I get her drift. I see this sort of thing all the time, where a simple choice saves much grief… but an ‘adult’ in charge has to follow the rules of the bean-counters. Sometimes I can bend the situation… sometimes not.
Was the law made for man, or was man made for the law? Lawyers shy away from that question…
The law was made for man, but like so many things in our lives that were made to help us, it has taken over. If all the laws that are on the books were actually enforced, everyone would be arrested.
Worse are the laws like the Income Tax: so complex, that even the Government’s own experts can’t give the right advice–and they change it every year, so if you got it right this year, good luck next year.
If we were still a true capitalist country, you would be working 80-hour weeks over 6 days and no vacations, wondering if you would live to see 60. because no matter how much that sucks, there’s always someone desperate enough to do it so if you won’t, they fire you and hire that other guy.
And Tina limbs even higher on my respect ladder!
And Phix’s as well.
Growing pains. Tina 2.0 got off the slab because of Nudge. Now, the 2.1 collective has to make her (their?) own decisions, especially in the light of Phix’s awareness of Tina’s location, and Tina’s awareness of the consequences of Phix’s purpose!
And Tina has just proven that corporations are not people.
Not that a sphinx court would ever make that mistake.
Corporations may not be people, but they are made up of people…otherwise, Tina’s powers of suggestion wouldn’t work really well, would they? 🙂
QED.
The *people* of that insurance company had to intercede and override the *corporation* to do ‘the right thing’.
And the people lower on the ladder, at that. Hopefully, Phix and/or Tina can also take steps to make sure those people aren’t made the scapegoats for it.
Coming in late so I stayed out of the “corporations = people” debate yesterday. But to those who believe that garbage, I say this: talk to me when corporations can be imprisoned, or face the death penalty. And don’t waste my time talking about dissolving a corporation because not only has it not happened in recent history involuntarily, but there’s nothing stopping the same signatories from turning around and forming a new corporation the same damned day.
“New boss, same as the old boss.”
QED, indeed.
Looks like some of us were right and Tina hates using her demon powers to control other, It also looks like those that thought Phix had taken a liking to Tina and just wants to help her were also right.
This makes me wonder though if the ideas that Phix told Tina that she was lucky she did not remember included something about using demon influence to help people instead of harming them.
Or making people do the right thing even if they did not want to.
IIRC, the “idea” that Tina didn’t remember had something to do with achieving a kind of blank-slate/fresh-start…maybe even a level of mortality (not sure on that part). She doesn’t remember all of the timelines like other demons do after all…
If the purpose of this arc was to show Tina as terrifyingly inhuman, yet beautifully benevolent, then it has succeeded.
She’s not human, but she’s definitely a מענטש (“mensch” in the Yiddish sense – “a person of integrity and honor”).
“A Mensch is a person who always knows exactly how much to tip.”
I forget who said it, but for a short definition, I find it works right well.
how bout…the golem girls, Tina, Shelly and others are *people* – most of whom we would like to meet – but not human.
btw – I’ve met some dogs who were *people*/ and some humans who weren’t.
Same. I hate when the owners of such dogs and pets are the ones that act like animals.
Amen to that! I like most dogs I’ve met better than most people.
Tina made her decision, acted, and accepts responsibility with the possible consequences. That makes her an adult person. The fact that she isn’t remotely human, is irrelevant.
Oh Tina, I am SO right there with you, but when Bean Counters are put in charge of people’s health, and put the Beans before the health…
Well, sometimes people need a reminder. Well Done, Tina.
They’re not really putting the Beans before somebodies health… they’re putting the beans before them losing they’re JOBS, and thus having NO Beans themselves… just like Mr. Incredible’s mild-mannered cover identity working at an insurance company, if that insurance agent approves too many payouts, they’d find a way to get rid of him because he’s costing the company too much in the profit margin, he knows this, so to prevent him from getting fired, he doesn’t approve anything until directed from on high… and therefore it might only LOOK like he’s a heartless SOB that doesn’t care about somebodies health issues, he may sympathize with the victim, but not enough to want to make him risk his job.
…Did you seriously just defend the boss guy from The Incredibles? >_>
It’s one thing to make a statement like that about actual people, but his sole purpose in that movie was to be a heartless dick. There wasn’t a deeper meaning there. You aren’t supposed to sympathize with him, you’re supposed to hate him. That was his purpose.
I think the “he” that scantrontb was referring to is Mr Incredible in the role of the insurance adjuster. not the boss man.
I’m not sure exactly how this is supposed to make the insurance agent look better.
The problem with that line of reasoning is that at some level there is a person or persons who made the decision to put the beans before health.
It may not be the front line grunts on the phone lines, it may not even be their bosses above them.
But someone who has no worries about getting their asses fired made the decision to say “I don’t care that some doctor said that three doses are what is required to cure this condition. All *we’re* going to pay for is two.” or “I don’t care if [insulin brand x] doesn’t work very well for this patient. [Insulin brand y] costs more than “X” does and so we’re not going to pay for it.”
Or my favorite “So what if it will reduce the number of emergency visits this patient will have to contend with. Who cares if it will reduce the cost of their diabetes care in the long term. There is no @#$%ign way in Hell we’re paying out $1,200 for an insulin pump that will improve the health of the patient.
All of these scenarios are what I’ve had to face with insurance companies on a personal level. The pump thing is the prime example. $1,200 plus the consumables for it and doctor’s care would save them $300 a year in the unexpected doctor’s visits and ER trips.
But nope! They ain’t paying it.
While I certainly feel your pain (I have several medications that only provide mediocre results because the “good stuff” isn’t covered under my plan), the unfortunate fact is that this is how insurance works. If the companies (or the people running them) were magnanimous 100% of the time (as I’m fairly certain most decent human beings would want to be since we’ve all experienced how much not being covered sucks), then the chances are very high that they would be paying out more money than they would bring in. I’m not a business expert or anything, but I believe that situations like that result in a company going under.
The true problem, from my limited experience, seems to be in the cost of prescriptions and medical care…and from what I’ve heard from doctors, they’ve had to drive up their prices for services to cover themselves in the event of a malpractice suit. A simple mistake…misreading of lab results…misdiagnosis due to incomplete information…can result in a practice being drained by legal proceedings. The same can be said of the pharmaceutical companies…though I’d imagine that some of the chemical compunds they create aren’t cheap to begin with… Granted, some lawsuits in the medical world are completely legit (like those poor people who had medical instruments left inside them after surgery), but some are unfair.
So really, I tend to steer my grumblings about health care to the people who are lawsuit-happy.
The malpractice insurance claim is essentially false (conveniently shifting hate to those inhuman lawyer bastards). Malpractice suits make up a vanishingly small part of the costs of healthcare. The real problem is the social and financial role of being a doctor. Doctors are overpaid, and are given disproportionate respect for their profession (ever notice how Ron Paul’s supporters always mention that he’s a medical doctor). One result of this is that medical education is overvalued and overpriced, forcing students to take on tremendous debt loads (and generally specializing in the most lucrative if not necessarily most essential fields) and thus raising the cost of care. Insurance companies have a number of workarounds for this, but the major one is either not insuring or not covering (or at least not paying out) the most expensive treatments (which, it turns out, are not heroic lifesaving measures but chronic, quality of life type issues). Getting everyone covered by the same insurance plan would help tremendously. Having doctors expected to simply be salaried employees would also help. Reducing the costs of medical education to bring it into line with these ideas would help. But, short of magic, the transition to such a system would be unendurably painful for, essentially, the entire economy.
That’s actually good to learn re: malpractice suits not being the problem anymore. The costs of education and whatnot certainly is not an aspect that has been presented to me before.
I still think that if the costs of services dropped, then it would solve a lot of problems, but you’re right…it would take a miracle to fix all of the issues that lead to the higher costs in the first place.
Except that you are *still* having people who are not medically trained making decisions that have an effect on patient health and who have the power to override the decisions of those people that *are*.
You have an accountant who has the power to override a doctor.
And let me expand on this a little. The first example? The three doses needed but will only cover two?
The medication is one pill per dose. The cost per pill is slightly more than a dollar. I know this because my hospital doesn’t even bother to involve the insurance company because the cost is less than my prescription co-pay of $5 for generics.
And in the case of the two types of insulin? We’ve recently had to use three insurance companies. My wife’s for the first two, mine when I got hired at the hospital.
The first one said “Really, Lantus works better than Levamir and by spending a little more per vial keeps the patient our of the doctor’s offices, Urgent Care Centers and Emergency rooms for those all too frequent crisis visits thus saving us far more money than we save? Sure…dispense that sucker.”
Then the company wife worked at changed insurance to go with a cheaper company who said “What? Lantus costs more than Levamir? Who gives a flying toss that it works better and was prescribed by the Joslin Diabetes Center and their highly trained endocrinologists! We sure don’t! Levamir us good enough for them!”
When I was hired and had the better (and cheaper) insurance we dropped the wife’s and put her on mine. An insurance that said “Are you sure you can’t use Levamir? It’s cheaper you know. Oh…you were on it for a while it it it sucks compared to Lantus your doctor wants you on. Ok, but we’re going to have to charge you a little more.”
Which out of the three…seems to be the most sensible compromise between the two viewpoints. I like an insurance company that says “Are you *really* sure you can’t use this over that?” and then bumps up the co-pay to the next level for non-generic, name branded medications as opposed to just making an arbitrary decision.
@skruddgemire – Well what you’re describing boils down to the quality of the company and plan you have to work with… Unfortunately there are companies out there that are more motivated by the almighty $ than by what works or can be compromised without harming the business. I’d be exceptionally surprised if the guidelines for what is and isn’t approved does not undergo a review by medical professionals of some grade before it becomes official policy. Goodness knows that if you go through any kind of review or appeal process on an policy decision, they bring in experts…or at least that’s what I’ve seen happen.
What I have been told when I’ve contacted my health insurance company regarding drugs that are and aren’t covered is that their policy says that the generic is pushed when it is found to be effective for the majority of patients. Brand-name prescriptions may or may not be covered on one of the more expensive tiers based on how new the drug is, how prevalent its use is, how many tests it has undergone, and/or if there are any concerns regarding its use. The nasal spray that works best for me? Wasn’t a top-tier drug when it was covered, but they dropped it because some potential concerns came up about its side-effects or something along those lines. I only use the “good stuff” when I can get a tester bottle of it from the doctor. Otherwise I use something that’s more expensive and less effective than the “good stuff” was (generics do diddly squat for me).
So like I said…feel you pain, but don’t think that the people making decisions are always more interested in money than the welfare of their clientele. It wouldn’t pay for them not to care at least somewhat…
A company that doesn’t want to _save_ money long term?
Sounds like a prime candidate for short selling.
Unfortunately, there’s a lot about the modern business environment (think “stock price, based largely on the most recent financial statement”) which tends to keep companies focused on the bottom line for the next quarter.
“Long term” planning means they’re thinking about next year. Two or three or five years out… not even on the radar.
You need to find where Tina has her shop …
Thank you for reminding me again how lucky I am to live in a civilised country where medical care doesn’t depend on having the right job, and when they rush you to hospital the first question at the desk isn’t “Who’s paying for this?”
I’ll admit that Eagleland has it’s faults. I regard our patchwork for profit healthcare system as one of them. But it has it’s perks, too. In the morning I could get in my car and drive north to New England, a little over one thousand miles. Or I could go west to Colorado, another thousand mile trip. Haven’t been there for over twenty years since my time in the Army. I could keep going to California or Oregon or Washington State. And in the dozens of borders I would cross, the only note that I had arrived at a different political entity would be a sign welcoming me to the state I had entered. No papers. No passport. No one giving me a second look in a thousand plus miles of travel. Not to many other places on Earth you can do that.
“Its the little things that are most important. Not to worry about, but simply to remember.”- I forget who said it, but it rings true on so many levels.
@SWM
“Hospitals cannot turn you away from being treated.”
You are so very wrong. To quote you again from that same post, “the propoganda you must get” wherever it is you live.
I *WAS* turned away from 3 different hospitals because I was uninsured. Never mind that I had a gall stone, a massive one. Never mind that the pain would keep me awake at night, in tears, wishing the pain would stop. Never mind that the pain at first appeared to be a heart attack.
One of those hospitals that turned me away was the VA, because although I am a vet they are underfunded and I am am not living in the street so I have to find my own way.
I was uninsured because we thought I *was* insured but then found out the hard way that my wife’s provider had refused my application (no “qualifying event” since the application was filed over a year past when I lost my job and when we were married) without actually telling us that they did, and this was only a few months later so we just hadn’t realized that the premiums hadn’t changed (auto deductions).
What you might mean to say is that the emergency rooms cannot turn away someone who is in imminent danger. True. But waiting for that point not only risks death (such as if my gall bladder ruptured from the egg-shaped stone they later found in it) but costs *FAR* more than if the condition were preemptively treated earlier on.
Like in my case, how many trips to the ER for the pain, to be given a pain medication (at ten times the cost) and told to contact my doctor (yeah right … who?!?) as soon as possible before I finally have the visit where my gall bladder is in process of rupture?
And those costs get passed to everyone else, through higher local/state taxes, higher premiums, higher base costs from the providers, etc.
Your argument is spoken like someone who either has never (good for you, if so) had to deal with this situation … or did but was lucky enough to be covered or completely oblivious to the actual effects.
Thankfully in my case I went all the way to my hometown hospital and they were able to take me on faith as long as I paid $2000 up front and trusted me for the rest. Still wish I had an insurance company or *someone* to go over the bills and negotiate the charges.
No, my VA case is an example of what happens when politicians pander to their base about cutting costs, depending on those voters to not pay attention where the money is being cut from.
You think insurance companies don’t do the same thing? At least with government health care they can be held accountable at the ballot box. With insurance companies they just snicker as they watch you go to another provider, knowing full well the first words out of your new provider’s mouth will be “preexisting condition”.
In a single payer system there is no such thing as a preexisting condition because you’re always with the same overall provider. And with a government-run single payer system you will have always paid in through your taxes, so no such thing as “free riders” anymore, waiting until they’re sick before they start paying in.
The only downside is getting the voters to wake up and keep an eye on the representatives they elected to oversee it, instead of thinking they can just take a nap while they watch tv instead.
I could not agree more with Tina, but, sadly … .
Phix and Tina are my favorite characters. I would love to know them in the mythical realm of Realife.
I also wonder when was the last time that anyone told Phix to either kill me or get the f*** out, even politely?
Yeah, I was wondering that myself. The more I read Wapsi, the more impressed it get and just when I think I can’t be anymore impressed, I am.
And this whole conversation is foreshadowed way back here:
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/notharmingthem/
So it was. Good catch.
Indeedy 🙂
Thanks for digging that out. Great sequence (followed by another favourite of mine, Bud vs Kevin in the bed). Love Tina’s expressions there as well.
Wow! This past one , and Todays describes the “discussion” (read argument) we were having at work about ‘Obamacare’. Just thought I’d mention this. Not editorializing or anything. 😉
Thank you for that link, STB – especially since two days prior to that (yeah sometimes I backread from a link, heh), there was a strip in that same sequence that answers my pondering from a couple days ago.
I was wondering if just talking them into it was inherently bad, but Tina long ago told us that wasn’t an automatic dealbreaker with the sphinxes, unless harm resulted from it.
Tina is beside herselves(themself?) today.
Conflict of interest takes an interesting turn if it’s an inner battle.
Interesting.
Tina’s demon collective, working together in unison, develop a conscience.
Shelly’s demons, fused together into Creepy Girl, become Conscience.
Perhaps conscience and ethics and empathy develop precisely because of the interaction and balancing of conflicting primal impulses and drives? (whether demonic, psychological, or neurological)
The word is “Character”.
Personality is what you do in public. Character is what you do when nobody is looking, and especially when there are consequences.
“History is made at night! Character is what you are in the dark!”
Hey, that’s MY line!
This makes me wonder if it’s possible for what happened with Shel and CLG to happen to Tina’s collective.
It seems to me that Tina and Connie need some time to compare notes on the changing of a demon collective into a person and all the emotional changes that they go through before this is all over
Now there’s a thought.
This could be seen as a step in the evolution of the demon race.
Well from what Pablo has “liked” from my FB page in the past I would say the author is speaking through the character on this one..
It is unfortunate, but I know exactly why the insurance companies, doctors, and pharmacists are so hesitant to automaticly replace ‘lost’ meds.
I have worked as a hospital telephone operator for nineteen years. Part of that responsibility is the after-hours messaging service for many of the doctors and dentists offices in town. The amount of prescription fraud attempted every week is truly staggaring. We (operators, doctors, pharmacists) have heard every ‘lost’ story – and after a while you realize there is so much fraud that sounds just like the truth that you can’t tell anymore. It makes you cynical, suspicious and – unhelpful. Luckily I don’t have to do ought but deliver messages to and fro; most medical offices will not even listen to a routine refill request after closing hours.
You can recognize the patterns….the same phone number calling different doctors after closing, but each has a different name, and a different complaint…..
And you know what? It’s against Federal Law to clue in one of the doctors if we see that pattern. It violates the ‘patients’ PRIVACY to tell the doc that this same voice with six names and complaints, but one phone number, has tried to shake down five of his colleagues already tonight. (the HIPPA Law)
I dislike being made an accessory to prescription fraud, or any other crime. I especially dislike that it’s federally mandated that I do so.
I’m sorry about the rant. The point is, I understand their point of view. They would like to do the right thing, and be helpful; it’s just so difficult to know when you’re helping, and when you’re only enabling.
/soapbox
I have to wonder… what are the rates of such fraud attempts in nations with socialized healthcare?
And if there is a difference, is the cause institutional, or cultural, or maybe both?
~D.
From experience (as I am líving in one of those blasted Commie-Maoist European Socialist hell-holes of poverty&despair…) Not a problem. You can either phone Your own Family Doctor, or the weekend replacement, and they’ll arrange that the night-apothecary has the required medicine ready.
No need to fraud, or lie. Everybody gets their medicine and teatment largely covered, so here is no need to try to get meds through someone else. The cost of medicine, especially psychiatric drugs, are fully re-imbursed through our single-payer/private insurance (privatized insurance is VERY strictly monitored overhere by the Government)
Most people with “known”addictions, are under close monitoring by, either a psychiatrist, or their own family-doctor, so they can expect a visit to “check-up” on them..
(..)And if there is a difference, is the cause institutional, or cultural, or maybe both?(..)
Good question! I think the answer is : They’re intrinsically linked.
Wide and equal availability of care for éveryone, has a profound impact on People’s “anxt” I would call it.
If medical troubles are unlikely to bankrupt someone, it tends to make people, well “happier”
It’s hard to explain, but not having to worry about medical costs, makes for examople, for a litigation-poor society. Seuing hardly happens overhere, and people are, on average, less into this “kill or be killed” mentality.
It’s hard to explain to an American audience. Maybe the Brits in here can chime-in?
There is a reason the countries with single-payer, or socialized healthcare, are ALWAYS in the top 10 of all sorts of “happieness” indexes and research.
Well.. that’s as “political” as I will get. As it is somewhat dangerous to assert all sorts of stuff about The US, not having lived there. My Mom did, but that was in the 60’s….
The situation here is not so rosy, we still have to pay, but prescription drugs come at a discount (generally available drugs are discounted as well, if you have prescription).
And my country’s definitely not a “litigation-free” society…
Mind you, healthcare here is not fully universal, you receive it if you have a job or registered as a dependent. If out of job, you may pay a monthly fee to stay in the system.
I see. We (Netherlands) pay a flat-fee base insurance, and can choose to buy extensions for f.i. dental care, prescription glasses, coverage for cosmetic procedure etc.
Funny enough, Psychiatric help in áll shapes and forms is fully covered in the base-package.
However, the “flat fee”is the same for high-earners as it is for low-earners. That’s the lobby of private insurers at work. It is a rather contested part of the Dutch healthcare-system. Luckily the Government started to pay part of it for the lower incomes.
The “for profit” healthcare was a total bust when tried in the 90’s, so this hybrid system took it’s place. It kinda works.
‘If medical troubles are unlikely to bankrupt someone, it tends to make people, well “happier” ‘
And if the worst does happen, it’s less bad. When my wife was dying in hospital, she consoled me with the thought that it could be worse: we could be in America. (As an office temp and a self-employed jeweller, there’s no way we could ever have qualified for or bought insurance.)
“Self employed jeweller”? Aha! Nów Your screen-name clicks.
Made me check-out Your wares…..
…wow! Great stuff!!
Very sorry about Your wife. Made me think of my Dad. He got Myloïd Leukemia, had to have blood-transfusions every 3 weeks. Lost his lower leg ,had to revalidate for a year to be at least able to walk with his fancy prosthyesis, upto his last days.
When he finally passed-away, my siblings and me were very happy that there had been universal coverage for him.
Otherwise not only Hé, but wé also, would have been bankrupt. We saw the bills going to the insurer.
Suffice to say, they would have paid for a nice cottage in The Cotswolds..and thén some.
Well, in Hungary’s case, you’d need to persuade your family doctor to give you another prescription, not a buerocrat. If you’re not a lunatic (or percieved as such), it should go easier. Some drugs might only be prescribed by specialists, though, but it’s still your doctor you’ll have to talk to if you lose the meds.
Ah, yes! much better than my japping. Indeed the family doctor is the key, nót the insurer or some other pencil-pusher.
Family doctor/therapist decides, and insurer hás to follow.
Another question for folks like Jay-Em and Yarner42…
Do you guys have prescription fraud in the form of people getting access to controlled substances for sale to people who don’t need the meds? I medicate for ADD, and my prescription is made of speed (among other things). I know lots of people who would pay me for my pills just to get high (I used to get approached by people all the time in college and at my first salaried job).
Do you see that happening in your countries…where there aren’t as many roadblocks to getting your hands on meds?
That and certain ADD meds are precursors to Meth. We had one parent in OR send her kids to school the first month of school after feeding them Coca cola and frosted flakes for breakfest so the teachers would write that the kids were hyper so they would get ritalin… they got it and she used it to cook meth… Nice.
No, not really. Speed is more easily (and often even cheaper!! Big Pharma is fiddling with the prices too) obtainable via the illegal channels.
Most people that use a “speed” derivative, keep their mouths shut, as advised by most doctors.
I guess it does happen every now & then, but for the junkies it’s a rather expensive way to get their hands on it via people with a prescription. Contradictionary as it may sound.
It’s the net-result of a government policy to not come down too hard on soft-drugs, speed (cocaine is another matter) and their users.
It keeps the price in the illegal cirquit very véry low, so no-one is prepared to pay through the nose to get it from someone with a prescription.
Being a junkie and using illegal drugs is’nt punishable by law too.
It’s all inter-connected, and so far it has kept our society pretty stable and violence free. The recent shootings (You might have heard about it) were the exeption to the norm, and were in NO way connected to drug-abuse, even if right-wingers tried to tie it to drugs, it didn’t fly.
It was a problem of some psycologically troubled people that got their hands on semi-auto’s through lax police scrutiny of local gun-clubs, and police-academies..
Well, the inter-connectedness of Policy, drug regulation, medical insurance etc etc. ,as it works here, is rather complex, and completely impossible to correctly describe in a single post. Whole libraries have been written full. (Phix prolly has some copies)
It’s even harder to describe -let alone in a comprehensible way- to someone from a wholly different base-culture.
Because, face it, The States (and GB to some extent) might look deceivingly the same as mainland Europe, but néver make the mistake of thinking that popular culture defines the social, and cultural heart of a country.
There is the Anglo-Saxon way, and there is the European (or even “Scandinavian”) way, and they differ like night & day when cutting away the superficial layers of popular culture.
You’re Czech, aren’t you? 🙂
Good for you, mate.
I see what you did there. 😀
::slides the pun jar Yarner’s way::
Greywolf, I think that pun is stale by now.
[tips a king into the pun jar]
Sorry, I really don’t know that much about this part of the story. As far as I can tell, known addicts are handled with care by their doctors (it’s a specialist, not the family doctor), and pharmacies keep the “harder” drugs under special scrutiny – which of course, implies that people try to get the drugs (hence the precautions) and that money is also involved (pharmacists who handle the keys to the cabinet holding the addictive substances are held personally responsible for the inventory…
But as far as I can tell, it’s not a major business. The buzzword in the media these days are the new substances that don’t fit under the anti-drug laws.
I want to make clear that not all Rx requests are automatically assumed to be fraudulent; routine requests are deffered to the office the next day, and acute need-of-care calls are given to the docs. The majority of the fraudulent calls are for pain meds to dentists and orthopedics,or stuff with mood-altering effects. The scammers are addicts or dealers (or both – never be your own best customer) and fit a certain profile (yes, there’s that dirty ‘P’ word). If a doctor can’t memorize all his patients, that’s what ‘smartronics’ are for.
We have never had an issue with an established patient with common sense ever being mistaken for a ‘frequent flier’
/Rant2
My guess is that this experience drained Tina a great deal.
Either that or she is going through a “moral/ethical” dilemma mentally and it is giving her a headache.
I’m sure she can get a cure for that headache at the pharmacy.
I am afraid the only cure for that type of headache is 8 hours of pure fun with good friends and CHOCOLATE. ;-p
heh.
story of my life – There’s What Should Be, and there’s What Is. And for me, What Is is rarely ever What Should Be.
I don’t comment much (though I do enjoy reading the daily comments). I just love Tina so much here… it amazes me that she actually sticks to a higher moral ground than most people (probably even myself).
As for lost medication… happened to me once. I got a prescription filled, got a taxi home from the doctor instead of taking the bus, and left my medicine in the taxi. Didn’t get to use it even once. I had to buy the medicine again, sans insurance, and it was so expensive that i ate nothin but eggs and lettuce the rest of the month. Insurance refused to cover it again. But I needed that medicine badly- anti seizure medicine. Believe me I understand how crappy the situation is…. So glad Tina was willing to help Becky out even if it meant breaking a few moral rules and possible the person who gave her the medicine.
Personal Responsibility???? What world do you live in? If you listen to the media no one wants to accept that idea nowadays. (Nice catch there)
That being said, there does need to be some leeway for accidents and malice. I am not saying that they should be forced to pay for a new script each and every-time something happens, but to give a do over or so once in a while can be a godsend. Keep a database and if the person has not had an incident in a certain amount of time, then give it to them. That is all I’m saying.
That’s actually a pretty good idea Maark. 🙂 I hope there are companies out there who are doing that or think of it soon!
They exercised personal responsibility in having the insurance in the first place, did they not? 😉
If this were a frequent occurrence, I would agree – that person either needs to learn to be more careful, or perhaps consider whether they need assistance for living on their own.
But every little accident? Shocker: this is real life, stuff happens. The whole reason for having insurance in the first place is to be covered when stuff happens. 😉
How would accidentally losing/destroying/etc your meds be any different than the event that caused you to need it in the first place?
Think about it.
On one of those examples – I have seen employers reissue checks that were lost, albeit with a deduction for the cost to have the bank stop payment on the original (just like how I would expect the pharmacy to charge the copay again on resissued meds).
Not saying it’s the provider’s responsibility – I’m just saying I wouldn’t write it off as the penalty for irresponsibility of the patient. If for no other reason than in a case of mental illness, the world in general around them is better off if they get their meds so yes, please – get them a new dose.
Granted – we don’t know all the details. Maybe Becky has had a habit of losing her meds, innocently thru accident. In which case I could see the insurance provider saying “cmon now, either get an automated dispenser, or a hire a nurse”. But looking over the experiences I have had over a variety of issues with different companies – excuse me if I find it easy to believe that she would get cold treatment for little (if any) reason at all.
That is the companies’ faults IMHO for not doing a better job of making it patently obvious to their customers that they actually give a damn, you know? For example, I’ll give the oil companies credit – I have my issues with them, but at least lately they have done a better job of presenting themselves. That’s a start.
“People shouldn’t be made to do the right thing!”
True as far as it goes. But more to the point, “People shouldn’t have to be made to do the right thing.” We live in an imperfect world, Tina dear, humans and other things alike. I’m on the wrong side of the screen to give you the hug you deserve. Try talking to Monica; I hear her busty mom hugs are pretty comforting.
In his song “Waiting for the Great Leap Forward”, Billy Bragg says “In a perfect world we’d all sing in tune, but this is reality, so give me some room.”
I agree. Hugs cannot really fix anything, but they can make us feel much gooder. Since I can’t hug Tina, call Monica!
Beat me to it. No, people shouldn’t have to be made to do the right thing, but if they won’t do it on their own, let’em grit their teeth and live with the “tyranny”.
True, but “right” itself can be subjective, and sometimes the world requires the “wrong” thing to happen to make any progress.
In Comic Example: Calendar Machine. Most people would agree stabbing your best friend in the skull, especially when you are not sure she’ll survive the attack, is the “wrong” thing to do. But, if Shelly didn’t do just that, we’d be entering the next cycle again rather soon (assuming the physical world wasn’t overrun by demons, ala the Doubts plan).
Aaaaand I have no lost the plot completely.
Very simple – this is an example of Pablo trying to focus on a secondary character (Tina), to move the plot towards some unseen climax that we, the readers, won’t see for… (looks at his calendar) …what year is this again?
Yup. This development will no doubt prove to be significant (and perhaps very important) somewhere down the road. Paul is good about building the supporting legs for his furniture 🙂
Meta-message: Tina is not a “spear carrier” (a secondary or tertiary character, often disposable, introduced solely as a mechanical plot contrivance to frame actions by the primary characters… think “Star Trek Security redshirt of the week”).
I don’t think any regular readers would have mistaken Tina for one of those… but the little exposition we’ve been treated to in the last couple of weeks should eliminate any doubt. Tina’s depth as a character has just had a really deluxe upgrade!
This sort of character growth (in both senses of “character”) is one of the things I appreciate most about Wapsi Square… three and four dimensions, shown via a two-dimensional midium.
This has grown from a Monica-and-her-friends focus to an ensemble cast with their own overlapping plot lines.
Everything to see here – stick around please!
Not to minimize Monica’s role, but her primary purpouse regarding the calander machine has been fullfilled. Phix pretty much told her that she’s more or less moving into a suppourting role.
http://wapsisquare.com/comic/in-the-center/
I’ll point out that Tina has a better Wapsi Wiki page than Monica herself. (Shelly, too, for that matter.) Tina’s a primary cast member and everything, although that just shows she’s been around a while – man, that thing’s old.
Meanwhile, seeing Tina with her eyes closed is enough to give me pause. Either they’re her usual mischievious silver spirals, or they’re gaping black holes.
I’d have phrased Tina’s last line as “People shouldn’t need to be made to do the ‘right thing’.”
That’s not what she’s upset about though. She’s not upset they didn’t do the right thing of their own free will. She’s upset that she took away their free will and MADE them do something, whether it was the “right thing” or not.
My own take is that people who won’t do “the right thing” NEED to be forced to do so.
OTOH, DECIDING what’s “the right thing” is another matter.
Heh.. the same problem that Bud ran into in her dicussion with Tina about ethics.
Both. People shouldn’t have to be pushed into doing the right thing, and at the same time Tina is unhappy that she did push people into doing what was, yes, helpful to others and right. But she would rather have not needed to push.
Can’t says that I blame Tina for feeling rotten about doing what she did, even though something good did come of it.
Well now.. As expected, Phix appears.
Aaaand.. As I expected, took on her role as mentor again.
And Tina? Well, Tina is experiencing that uniquely human emotion “remorse” again (like after she blew-up at Nudge)
(Phix is cute, looking that bent..)
By the lights of the other sphinxes Phix may _be_ bent for mentoring, not just a demon, but a demon collective.
You have to wonder just what their thinking now.
I am of the impression that Phix (despite her obvious power) is one of the weaker sphinxes (if not among the weakest) when it comes to ‘direct power’.
Thankfully, she seems to have ‘the ear’ of whatever authority governs the sphinxes.
Hooray for Tina, anyway!! She helped a friend who had difficulty helping herself. THAT is what friendship is about. Thru the good, rip-snorting fun times and the deep-blue, stink-eye sucky times, you are there for your friends. NQA!
Maybe Tina and Phix will be friends now,too.
Serious Cat ate the canary vibe from Phix in that panel. Dunno if it’s the neck or the teeth to be honest lol.
And poor Tina. You have the power to make people do what you want, you make them do the right thing, but you still MADE them do it. So no matter how well intentioned or “right” it was it was still by your influence.
Few people I work with take great pride and sadistic pleasure in being able to do that, the fact she seems to be having a moral quandary regarding the issue is really telling.
I’m impressed by Phix’s information sources and determination. Within hours of the event she has full details and had decided what to do. She’s good.
Attack of the Giant Paisleys!
I had a paisely mini-dress like that in the 60’s! Wonder if hers is the same bright, nuclear colors mine was. And if hers is as short!!! ;D
Phix is starting to piss me off. She consistently treats Tina like prey or a convicted Felon and yet her primary issue was with Nudge, not the Tina Collective.
(Side note, do we know how many demons are in there? If we do, can we start calling her Tina of X?)
I think I’d like to see Phix run into something that views HER as a potential snack. It’d do her some good to have that perspective.
She IS prey to Phix. Demons and Sphinxes do not get along. Go back and look at the arc where Phix does the Nudge-ectomy on Tina.
The Collective are convicted felons, too.
Phix is the sweetest of the
parole officerssphinxes, and considers herself as the lowest on the sphinx totem pole.Phix gets what it means to be coerced, whether it’s for the right thing or the wrong thing. Coercion is generally suckass, but it also allows for civilization.
Keep your voices down in the Library. Please.
How is this appearance by Phix “treating Tina like prey”? I see it as an appearance that is meant to reassure Tina that she’s not going to be in trouble for what she did.
As far as Phix’s feelings about Tina remember that right after the “Nudge-ectomy” she gave a very sincere and heartfelt apology about the treatment she gave her. That is not the action of a predator for prey. Likewise I do not see this exchange as a negative exchange. I see it as Phix doing her best “Mentor to Tina” bit.
Tina’s mistaken in thinking that people shouldn’t be made to do the “right thing”. Force is usually the only way to make the “right thing” happen, guess that’s because the “right thing” usually has the least preceived benefits to the one doing it.
Two problems here, though:
(1) Defining “the right thing” is very tricky indeed. In many situations, reasonable people can disagree greatly on what the right of correct or best action is. Most times, those who must make that choice, must do so without complete information, and may force a “right thing” that has unexpected consequences.
(2) Compulsion denies the person being compelled, the right to choose. It turns them from a person, into a tool… into a thing.
It’s a hard decision to make (or it should be) when you “force the right thing”. It may actually be “necessary” and “for the best” but it always comes at a cost and conveys a serious responsibility.
“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”
Tina sees this, I think. Her power gives her the ability to play God with peoples’ lives, and I think the weight of that responsibility has just hit her shoulders in a big way.
*Like* 🙂
Also, by turning a person into a tool (removing their right to choose and forcing them to do the “right thing”) it negates some of the “right” out of the action. I may not be saying this well, but it’s rather like what a good friend once told me… “The good deeds you do only count when you don’t remember them, or you aren’t compelled to tell someone about them.” The premise is that the intention of the “right action” also is important.
If you do a good thing for selfish or bad reasons, is it really a good thing you have done?
I agree–and it isn’t quite as bleak as it seems. After all,
deep down, everyone involved knew [this] was the right thing to do”–she just facilitated their ability to do what they knew was right, not forcing them to do something they knew was wrong and thereby taking away their choice.
Speaking of ‘doing the right thing’ , there was a report on the local news that EMS in area are haveing trouble keeping thier Paramedics supplied with the drugs the state requires them to carry like NARCAN – used to reverse narcotic Overdoses. Reason is its cheap and inexpensive and the drug companies don’t make money on them so they’re not makeing as much or ceaseing production. Nice huh?
probably because the EMT’s don’t use “enough” of it to warrant them continuing it’s production, as there may be other drug /treatments out there that do the same thing and if they raise the prices, that will be the final straw to make the customers shift to those drugs vs theirs… that is until the other company gets bought out in order to force the issue…
Awww. Tina, people are forced to do the ‘right’ thing all the time by laws. Laws which if you happen to break them are enforced by the threat of prison applied by something erroneously called ‘The Justice System’ which neither cares about nor seeks ‘justice’, but only cares about following proper procedure. Kinda like any bureaucracy I’ve ever studied. Tina you’re a bunch of demons, you saw a problem, declared yourself Tyrant, solved the problem by caring about the result, not the procedure, then abdicated like Cincinnatus and returned to civilian life. Bravo.
“Because she’s the hero Wapsi deserves, but not the one it needs right now…” ^_*
I think the next line should be:
Phix: Looks like you need a hug. OH EURAYLE!
Eurayle: Comehere suga!
*bones crunch*
*tentacle pops out of mouth*
ROTFLMAO!!!!
WONDERFULL!!!!
I spent almost five minutes trying to catch my breath after reading that.
If there was ever a force of nature that needed to be addressed, it would be the “EURYALE GLEE”.
I was thinking Phix might need a chiropractor to fix the way her neck is bent here! She’s taking the puzzled puppy pose to whole new lengths!
More like curious cat. I think she’s bemused by demons that are feeling bad about doiung what the demon species as a whole a ment to do. She’s probably also ammused by her cordial relationship with something that is supposed to be her prey. Neither Tina or Phix are filling the roles nature intended for them.
If “the right thing was done and no one was hurt” why isn’t Phix at Health Ins. Corporate Headquarters making the entrance steps slippery with rivers of freshly spilt blood… or does she need entities that actually once pocessed a soul?
Those eyes Phix, like a cat calculating the hunt of a caged bird.
Sadly, sphinxes are only allowed to deal with super- and preternatural beings
Sometimes they think they are.
P.S. Its Paul’s birthday too? Happy B-D man! Thanks for making us heat up and exercise our grey matter!
Some people want to do the Right Thing, but for some reason, are afraid to take that extra step. They just need a little Nudge, or at least her room-mates.
Would a little Nudge look anything like a pixie with a rack? [drops some fairy dust into the pun jar to help it take off]
Sometimes humans need a gentle reminder of what the Right Thing is and how to do it.
If DeviantART is to be believed, HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAUL!! XD
Happy birthday bud! 🙂
I think you’re being too hard on Tina. She is using her power responsibly, with appropriate control–which shows that she’s growing into maturity. It’s when she uses it in bad ways, or to excess that she needs curbing.
There’s more than one way to skin a moral dilemma, or to restrain a feral demon collective.
Yes, Phix could come down hard on Tina… veiled and overt threats, explicitly “drawing the line” that Tina is not allowed to pass. “Young lady, if you ever do that again, I’ll send you to Gehenna without your supper, forever!”
Or, Phix can act in a way which will reinforce Tina’s own internal realization of the OK / not-OK boundary.
The former is like disciplining a child… enforcing an external discipline. The latter is like dealing with an adult, strengthening the adult’s own internal discipline.
My guess (and we’ll see in the days to come) is that Phix is doing the latter. Her words feel sort of like a “devil’s advocate” argument… she’s probing to see whether Tina is going to be defensive and justify her actions, or whether Tina realizes just how dangerous her behavior was.
Tina rejected the “easy out” that Phix offered her (the “no harm, no foul” and “it was in a good cause” excuses). Tina feels that what she did was fundamentally wrong. That shows the development of a moral sense which could be a much stronger limit on her future behavior, than any amount of sphinx-scaring could be. I sorta expect Phix to make this point in the next day or two.
Wow happy Birthday Paul. Hope you enjoy today.
I can’t help but think there’s a lesson or warning coming. Maybe both.
Of greater concern is that Tina willing to turn down business. That’s really unlike her.
That “sweetness and light” coming off of Phix are her taste buds illuminated by the glint of her fangs. That’s what Tina saw in her coming in the door: Phix isn’t here to even kill. She’s here to play!
Tina doesn’t want to fill that order. It’s a human-scale dilemma, and she’s still a tangle of tentacles and skulls that are having a hard time fitting into her skin.
The whole canard of “intentions” assumes that one has clear and just choices to begin with, and life is never so Spenserian. Demons usually just don’t worry about the consequences of their influence, but now she must.
Well, now that Jin is fixed, when is the gang going to help Tina become a real girl? (would she/they want that?)
Happy Birthday, Paul! Many thanks for The Wapsiverse!
Well, Tina has got the altruism thing down. She knew that what she had to do was fundamentally wrong but was willing to do it knowing (incorrectly as it turned out) that she would be killed for it. Not only a human trait but a rare one at that.
And with that last panel, I like Shelly even more.
@#$%! Tina, dangit! I keep getting my brunettes mixed up!
Ok, now attitude that makes her sexy!
It’s late, but Happy Birthday Paul!
I got my two posters-BTW.
They look great!
Yes the second panel would make a nice wallpaper indeed.
Pablo, just a heads-up, but the site’s got a wandering flash nuisance from something called VoiceFive. You may want to have a word with the ad providers.
Have I mentioned how incredibly LUCKY Monica’s boss is if he’s still seeing Phix? Or even if he only spent however much time in her stunning company.
I think anyone whom Phix decided to spend some time with would find it interesting.
in my mind it’s “people shouldn’t HAVE TO be made to do the right thing”… but I get her drift. I see this sort of thing all the time, where a simple choice saves much grief… but an ‘adult’ in charge has to follow the rules of the bean-counters. Sometimes I can bend the situation… sometimes not.
Was the law made for man, or was man made for the law? Lawyers shy away from that question…
The law was made for man, but like so many things in our lives that were made to help us, it has taken over. If all the laws that are on the books were actually enforced, everyone would be arrested.
Worse are the laws like the Income Tax: so complex, that even the Government’s own experts can’t give the right advice–and they change it every year, so if you got it right this year, good luck next year.
But you’d better not be wrong!
If we were still a true capitalist country, you would be working 80-hour weeks over 6 days and no vacations, wondering if you would live to see 60. because no matter how much that sucks, there’s always someone desperate enough to do it so if you won’t, they fire you and hire that other guy.
So be thankful. 😉