War Stories

Time for another rant. War Stories.

I've been lucky to have been in professions where the term "Hero" is thrown around at times.

The reason these professions appear to be so heroic, is because of the work of a team. While one individual may wind up being the ultimate focus of all of the efforts of this team, it should always be remembered that there is usually a team behind that made everything happen.

The Team is what keeps all members safe.

The Team ensures that everyone goes home at the end of the day.

The Team is what achieves super-human goals.

It is the combined efforts of all members that keep a team running safely, and efficiently.

When a member of a team goes off on his own, it places the entire team at risk.

Too often, the war stories that I hear are about someone doing something extremely risky, in the name of accomplishing something. In their story telling, they emphasize the risk they take, gloryifying it. Too often they tell these stories around young, impressionable ears.

This is not the crap that I need to hear. While you are patting yourself on the back, I'm picturing a team at risk. I'm picturing one person putting themself ahead of the rest of their colleagues to achieve something that could be done with less risk.

The lengths that these teams will go to, in order to save an injured comrade is extreme. Knowing that the guy in front of you, and behind you, in a stack, will move mountains to come to your aid is part of what being a team is all about. But this comes with a massive responsibility. To intentionally put yourself at unnecessary risk in this type of environment is a shrugging of that responsibility. To do so without consulting your team is the ultimate act of betrayal.

This is not to say that these actions aren't justified at times. Heroes such as Audie Murphy, and Alvin York are good examples of individuals facing great risk to achieve "heroic feats". It should be noted that Murphy worked to ensure his team's safety, while York worked with his team to overcome overwhelming odds.

There is room for heroes. I have a tremendous amount of respect for those that give their time and efforts for the safety and betterment of others. My short time in law enforcement has shown me how misunderstood that profession is. While I don't believe all of them are heroes, the majority of them do deserve our respect. The loss of this respect has caused a tremendous number of problems in this day and age.

There are those that will say "You don't get it. You don't understand"
Maybe I don't. Maybe I'll never understand why you would put yourself at risk to do something that your team could accomplish with much less risk. Maybe I'll never understand why you would put your team at risk. I hope I'm not in the stack with you, but if I am, I'll be there to do what I can to bail you out. I hope you consider this fact before risking your team's collective necks.

Classrooms as Political Podiums

OK, I'll start this off by saying that I believe that going into Iraq was a good idea. There were multiple reasons to do so, and I did believe that there were WMD's and other violations occuring there.
I'm not a fan of President Bush. His science policies have me distressed.

I will always respect the office though. I think the manner that this country treats the President is horrible, especially in light of the offenses perpetrated by our direct representatives.

This isn't about that.

I'm a student, at a pretty good university. I pay serious money to attend, and I hope to learn while I am there. When I taught, I tried to keep commentary out, and encourage critical thinking in my students. When pushed, I gave my opinion, but made sure that my students and colleagues knew that it was my opinion that I was putting forth.

In my last required english class (composition), I was pretty excited. Our first set of books was a biography about a man that stressed critical thinking, and challenging established norms. I was genuinely excited about this class until the professor began spouting her version of political theory and commentary.

The excitement lasted a couple of weeks, until I realized that the commentary was not a rare thing, but was in fact becoming more common. The comments are short, but they're very slanted, and occasionally outright lies.

These are paraphrased, but they convey the point:
"George Bush is worse than Hitler"

"US federal law enforcement is torturing its citizens"

"The US military has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens"

Having been in the military, and worked with federal law enforcement, I take exception to some of these remarks. At one point she made a comment about my previous occupation, and "my" tendencies at infringing on others rights.

I seem to remember missing almost every holiday in the last three years, many birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations for friends and family, on account of attending every protest at our nation's capitol, to ensure that protestor's rights were protected.

I seem to remember helping organize the police detail for a group of KKK guys, where they were out numbered by the "counter-protestors". I remember being called a racist for being at events like those.

Now I'm in school, and I have to put up with it from my professor.

She's made it clear that she is not to be disagreed with. This has even gotten to the point where two of my classmates have "new names", because she chooses to pronounce them her way-- despite being corrected by them.

A fair amount of these kids are looking at another degree after this one. There are at least two other people in the class that consider themselves "Pre-Med" (Including myself). This is a required class, and an average grade can have serious consequences. Ill-considered or ill-timed complaints could have dire consequences.

Now we are getting into our "Healthcare" section of the class. Today I learned that "there is no medicine without politics," and that "politics in this country always corrupts."

In the same breath.

It was this comment that made me want to write this.
When a provider holds a patient's life in their hands, in some rainy ditch on the side of the road, there are no politics.
I recognize that our medical infrastructure is incredibly political. Hell, we spent $1,700,000,000,000 (That's $1.7 TRILLION) on medicine in 2003. There's going to be politics there.
I resent the taint cast on this profession. I resent the implication that healthcare providers seek to take advantage of their patients.

I'm tired of her innuendos, conspiracies, negative comments, and crap political statements-- all on my dime, and while holding my grade hostage.

I might start taping the class. Show the Dean what's happening in the classroom.

Entry Into Cyberspace

I've been using computers since I was six years old. Early identification of a handwriting issue, and parents (and family) who were remarkable in their patience and trust enabled me to get some early access.
I think the first PC I ever played with was a Timex Sinclair (My Uncle Mike's). Then on to an Apple IIe. My father had to convince my mother that we needed this machine, as it was still pretty rare for a PC to be in the home at this point. To his credit, he did a remarkable amount of remarkable work on that machine. It amazes me that my wristwatch and cellphone have more computing power than that thing did, but he ran the best soccer club in the area from it (when soccer was a rare game for kids. Real American kids played baseball).

Anyway, I have really cool parents. They somehow managed to steer a crazy kid through a series of failures through high school, until he graduated 5 years later. They didn't press him when he said he didn't want to go to college. When he finally got his butt in gear and went to paramedic school, they did everything they could to support him.

I'm a decent medic. I love the work (though it does have it's frustrations at times), but I frequently have more fun when I'm not "working". I'm always a medic, even when I'm not on the clock. It has become so much of what I do, that I spend a some time each day helping friends and family with medical issues. This has shown me some of the failings of our medical infrastructure as a whole.

Everyone knows that doctors are overworked. Too many patients are afraid to take up too much of the doctor's time. To the patients, I say "SPEAK UP!", you have a right to have the questions regarding your health answered. To the doc's, I empathize with you, but consider empathizing with your patients a little bit more on critical issues. Do you want "some medic" explaining to your patient the life changing diagnosis your have just handed your patient? That's if you are lucky. Many patients are simply going to the internet to research their condition. God only knows what scary stuff is on there (like this blog). Quite a few people will research until they find the article that fits their views, and stick with that one-- never mind how many opposing viewpoints they encounter first.

Don't get me started on insurance companies. You won't like my answer. Same with Socialized Medicine (politics and religion are probably left alone as well).

I'm a big advocate of personal responsibility. If I continue writing here, I'm sure you'll see that theme come up a fair amount.

Anyway, why should you read this? Why come back here? Well, if you've read this far, I'd say stick around. It will get better. I'm a pretty contentious guy at times. I'll say things that will upset you at times, and have you laughing at others.

I have a fair amount of hobbies, from cooking and reading, to SCUBA Diving, airsoft, shooting and rappelling. I'm an unemployed medic, going back to school fulltime after playing "Doctor" for the last 15 years. I haven't been impressed with college yet (I'll probably go into that in a couple of days), and some of the people I've encountered have given me serious concerns for our future.

To close, this isn't for you. If you are reading this, I almost certainly don't know you. There is no way that I can hope to write something like this without offending someone. I'm writing here to get my thoughts down on paper, and you happened to stop by. If this offends you to the point of anger, GO AWAY! If this challenges the way you think, then please stay. Put some of your thoughts down on paper (or the net). If this amuses you, then I'm doing something right. There is too much sadness and horror in the world. Laugh whenever you can.