Shift switch

It's sick the price of medicine
Stand up, we'll put you on your feet again
Open up your eyes just to check that your asleep again
President gas is president gas again
-Psychedelic Furs 

For the first time in over seven years, I am no longer working the day shift.  My wife has retired, and as such, there is no need to remain on the 4:30 to 3:00pm schedule.  I have endured the additional stress of dealing with management with detrimental effects on my health for the sake of our marriage, and now I am dealing with the stress of changing my life.  The toxic atmosphere created by the management team will, I hope, be lessened by the shift change, but it still is taking a toll.

Trying to maintain health insurance for us both has become the overriding controller of my behavior. My wife is still years away from medicare; and as such, the responsibility falls to me to maintain our coverage. This situation seems to resonate with the national debate over access to affordable health care; with our circumstances better than many, but not without difficulties.  When one is beholden to an entity without conscience or remorse; fixated on profit instead of the people it presumably serves, this creates a conflict difficult to resolve.  I see abuse and theft occurring on a daily basis, but to expose these behaviors risks the health and welfare of my family.  Due to the structuring of insurance in this country, I feel trapped in my position; unable to change my position without great hardship, but still uncomfortable in aiding and abetting a dishonest corporation.

This, I feel, is deliberate; a way to keep people in an untenable job, held hostage by a concern for protection against the devastating costs of uninsured illness.  For the reactionary rulers, this remains a godsend; thus their resolute resistance to national health care.  The tax incentives may be enticing, but keeping the collar around the neck of the public is far more important.