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By Kate, 21 April 2010 12:14 pm

The past week has been slightly difficult for me. Not because I’ve been stuck somewhere, but because of the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to go on my vacation. And I guess I shouldn’t really say ‘difficult’ because I’m not sitting in an airport waiting to see how long it’ll take to get a flight home. Those people have the right to claim difficult as well as various other things, probably involving a lot of cursing. But it’s been a battle of the voice of reason in my head and the voice that really just wants to see her friends after not being able to at Christmas because of another force of nature: snow.

Objectively, I sort of think this whole situation is a good one. Yes, it’s disruptive and annoying, and yes it’s going to take a while to clean up. But it’s forced people to look at the fact that shit they cannot control will happen, and they have to figure out a way to deal with it without just flipping out and acting like an entitled-to-everything 8-year-old spoiled brat who gets whatever she wants all the time.

It’s nature. It’s kind of the boss. When it says ‘jump’, you have no choice. And if we were a smart race, we’d look at this situation and say, perhaps we should have backup plans for things we don’t really expect to ever happen, and while I know a volcano has nothing to do with climate change, perhaps we should really start thinking about some of the effects which that, as an uncontrollable force of nature, might have and what we’ll have to do about it. Even if you for some reason don’t believe the climate is changing (I won’t go there in this post), it’s still worth a change in the way we handle things.

But my selfish inner voice is saying ‘GODDAMMIT! I realise I’m being unreasonable, but PLEASE, MS. VOLCANO, ERUPT IN A MORE DIFFERENT DIRECTION FOR ME. KTHNXBAI.’

I want to go to Dan and Kathleen’s wedding, and I want to go to the dive bar in Philly with Sara and Donnie and Liam and Bobby for pierogies and PBR, and I want to see my family and their beach house and Randle the dog, and I want to go to Dogfish Head with Lindsay and Dan, and I WANT MY MOTHERFUCKING VACATION.

I’m generally able to quell this voice of insanity, because I know it’s no use. Volcano will do what Volcano feels like, and humanity be damned. And really, more power to it. Volcanoes are freaking awesome, in the fullest sense of the word. Who am I to try to change the course of life, you know? Human frustrations are not top of the list for the cosmos in general.

In any case, they’ve lifted the flight ban now. Quite abruptly, but they’ve done it. I feel like we’re still not out of the water though, because of the immense backlog and the possibility that the volcano will decide to spew a whole lot more. Still, I’m now cautiously optimistic about my flights next week.

What irks me is that the first thing to happen is that the British media jumps on the government and the CAA and tries to blame them for the backups. It’s unbelievable! You get pissed when the government doesn’t do their job, then you get pissed when they DO do their job. What exactly do you want? It’s not anyone’s fault that this happened, it’s a VOLCANO. There’s nothing you or anyone can do about it, regardless of their rank or relative importance, so stop trying to find some kind of scapegoat. I think the government is doing quite an admirable job really.

And the CAA. You cannot get pissed at the CAA. It’s not like they were thinking ‘Hey, let’s inconvenience as many people as humanly possible just to see what happens!’ No. They were thinking, ‘Hey, we aren’t sure what the effect of this stuff will be on all these jet engines, so lets take them out of the air til we’re sure we won’t have people falling out of the sky willy-nilly!’ Sounds smart to me. I may have been upset if I couldn’t go on my trip, but I’d much rather be on the ground than plummeting to earth because all the engines on my plane failed after an airline decided that profit was more important than passenger safety. That’s why you NEED a CAA. Airlines can’t look at this situation objectively when so much money is involved, which is fair enough really, but people have to step back and let the safety people do their jobs.

I’m petrified of flying to begin with, so I’m more than happy to wait until the people who know their shit on the subject say they feel comfortable with going back up there. Risking your life for a trip to the beach just isn’t cool.

What people should really be complaining about is travel insurance that refuses to pay out, especially if they’re stuck abroad for another week because they can’t get on a flight home and have no money to pay for extra accommodation. Yes, a volcano is an act of god, but if you can’t count on your insurance to cover the unexpected, what exactly is the point in having it?

And they should also be complaining about other travel companies taking this as an opportunity to charge out the ass for rental cars, train tickets, ferries, and whathaveyou rather than trying to genuinely help people out. People are always quick to blame for the cause of something, but it’s really the effects of the situation that show the good and bad in people and companies.

In any case, Eyjafjallajokull, you just keep doing your thing. Humans will sort themselves out eventually. And if you decide I shouldn’t be going to the US, well then, I guess I’ll just have to go with the staycation option and try not to sulk too much til you change your mind.

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By Kate, 14 August 2009 12:27 pm

Let me just start by saying I know full well that I’m preaching to the choir here, and the people who would most likely benefit from reading this never will. I suppose I have to accept this, because it’s not going to change (I mean, HAVE YOU SEEN these people?), but I’m going to talk about this anyway, because MY GOD.

First of all, it’s nice that Americans who know absolutely nothing about how the NHS works are saying they’d be dead if they lived in England right now, because clearly the NHS is just so evil that it’s impossible to actually LIVE in a place where it exists. And they know this from… watching the news? And this knowledge is enough for them to know that an NHS type system would cause the US to implode.

I don’t profess to know everything about the NHS, and I certainly don’t profess to know everything about the American system. I also don’t know everything about politics. What I do know is that while the NHS is not perfect, it’s a damn sight better than anything going on in America. And I don’t just pretend to know, I do know, because I’ve experienced both.

In the US, I had a great doctor. However, seeing that doctor was a hassle. I would wait anywhere from 30minutes to an hour and a half past my actual appointment time to see the actual doctor. I would have to order my prescriptions online if I wanted the best deal, because that’s how my insurance company did things. And medicine was still expensive anyway. I had to pay more to see the gyno, and more again for birth control. I spent a particularly dreadful two and a half hours on the phone with my insurance company one day when I was a freshman in college because I needed to find out what I had to do in order to get an xray on my sprained ankle at the hospital because that hospital was not in the town where my permanent address was. I managed to get an EGD done on my upper digestive tract right before my dad’s insurance ran out on me. The procedure cleared me of any problems, but the same insurance company denied me when I reapplied independently. As did a bunch of others. I ended up with crappy worldwide insurance with a  deductible of about $10,000 and a pre-approval policy, which basically all means it was absolutely useless. And this was at age 22. If I was being rejected then, god knows how I’d get insurance at 30, 40, or 50.

Now. In the UK, I registered with a General Practitioner, and I can go see him or anyone in the practice he works in at any time. I never wait longer than 15 minutes past my appointment time. I can make an appointment to speak over the phone if it’s more convenient. I can talk to nurses on the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on NHS 24 if I have a problem out of hours. And I can even get an out of hours care appointment at a local hospital if I have a problem on a Friday night that’s not an emergency but is not something I want to wait til Monday to resolve. I pay £4 for any prescription I need. Except birth control. That’s all free. I can go to confidential sexual and women’s health clinics for advice and care from a gynecologist whenever I want. That’s free too. I can, if unfortunately necessary, go to the emergency room without even thinking about how much it’s all going to cost, because there are no bills. They just do what they need to do.

What does this give me? Massive peace of mind. I have a few minor niggling health issues that are under control because I can go to the doctor, talk about them, and treat them without worrying if I can afford it. If I lived in the US, this would be a problem. Not only because of money, but because of the stress associated with the cost and annoyance.

I also have the option of private insurance for hospital cover, which I do have. So contrary to what some might believe, you are not simply limited to the NHS. You can pay for more.  It’s not entirely necessary, but for £20 a month, I can guarantee that if something awful like cancer should arise, I don’t have to worry about NHS wait times (which again, are not perfect, but do exist). My insurance is with BUPA, and when I call them, they answer all my questions, they explain anything I’m unsure of, and there’s no ridiculous bullshit. they do exclude pre-existing conditions, but I don’t really have to worry about that, because it’s all covered by the NHS.

I pay a lot of tax, just like everyone, but this gives me access to these services. It also gives the unemployed, homeless, and everyone else access to these services. Anyone can go to the doctor. There is nothing standing between anyone in this country and a healthcare appointment except for stubbornness. And that’s just a personal problem.

All these Americans who don’t understand why government healthcare is a good idea? I can only imagine that they’re rich and must really enjoy being dicked around on the phone for hours by their insurance companies. Oh and they probably don’t have any pre-existing conditions. At all.

Also, the only logical conclusion I can make about you if you don’t believe everyone should be entitled to healthcare is that you’re kind of an asshole. How can you live with yourself as a human being? I can sort of understand your position if you don’t want to pay towards the pot that feeds the benefit/welfare system — I don’t agree with you, but I can see your point. But not contributing to the greater health of humanity and, as a result being ok with the fact that some people ultimately die because they don’t even get basic care? You’re entitled to your opinion as an American, but so am I. Asshole.

If opponents of government healthcare want to debate the point, they’re more than welcome. But can they not do it like civilised human beings and make points that are actually based in truth? These people are whining like two-year-olds, and frankly, it’s embarrassing.

The state of American healthcare is a very big part of the reason I can’t see myself ever living there again. These crazies I’m seeing on TV, who have now dragged the UK into the debate, are making me want to stay away even more. Sorry Mom, Dad, family, and friends, I love the US, and I love you, but the place doesn’t look too appealing just now. I’ll take my evil NHS over the lunatics and their protests any day.

*Disclaimer: I don’t actually have any problem with Socialists. I do not think they are filthy. I also do not think pigs are filthy. In fact, pigs are quite smart, clean, and wonderful, and I would like one as a pet.

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By Kate, 30 June 2009 12:59 pm

First of all, let me just say that Jon Stewart continues to be a genius and The Daily Show is the second best thing about my lunch break after the food.

That being said, I figured whatever he had to say regarding Michael Jackson’s death would be right on. I don’t really have much to say about it myself. I think MJ was pretty great, especially in his earlier, less freaked out years. I regularly rock out the the Jackson 5 and I can’t detach much of his solo stuff from greatness. Sure, he got a little weird, but you would too if you were a worldwide superstar with the pushiest parent on the planet and a media storm that never really let up. Look at Madonna, the closest thing to Michael Jackson in terms of star power, she’s a little freakin’ crazy too. And I guarantee there are much stranger people in the world, they just aren’t famous.

It’s sad that it happened so suddenly and that it’s kicking up so much vitriol about the guy all over again, but it’s also nice to see that a lot of people are just remembering the awesome music.

The whole thing makes me think about the perception of celebrities in general. I’ve never really been into famous people. I had some musical obsessions when I was younger, but I think that was more a product of my age than what I really thought about people. There are plenty of famous people I admire, but I can’t really get over the fact that they’re just other people I don’t know who happen to have done something cool. Approaching a celebrity for me equates with approaching some random person on the street.

Every time I walk into Waitrose for my bi-monthly peanut butter buying mission, I have the same mental conversation with myself. “What would I do if I ran into JK Rowling?*  A. Faint, B. Burst into tears, C. Timidly say, ‘Hello, thank you for being awesome, I hope you enjoy those apples’, D. Not even notice.” A and B aren’t really in my character, and I would hope the answer would be C, but knowing me, it would be D (I rarely notice people more than enough to avoid bumping into them, which is more than I can say for most people walking around this city). That or I’d notice her but be too worried about bothering her while she’s picking out the weekly veg. It just seems intrusive and weird, you know?

A week or so ago we went to see the premiere of Away We Go at the opening of the film festival, and John Krasinski was there. I was initially excited about it because I’m sort of in love with Jim Halpert (who isn’t?), but when I saw him it was kind of just like, oh, ok, here’s this guy, and I don’t know him any better than the dude sitting behind me, so what’s the big deal? (He did throw some Halpert looks for good measure though, which was at least amusing.)

I guess I just fail to catch the bug. And that’s kind of how I feel about the whole thing in general. Michael Jackson, in the end, is just a man I didn’t know. I can appreciate all the awesome stuff he’s done, but aside from pumping up the Jackson 5 and thinking good thoughts for his family at such a crappy time, I can’t see any reason not to leave him alone, and I guess I don’t get why other people want to pick on him even after he’s gone. It’s just bad taste.

*Rumour is she shops at this particular branch. For US readers, Waitrose is kind of an upscale grocery store that happens to carry a lot of tempting, wonderful things, plus Skippy peanut butter, a rarity in these parts.