Posted by
Edwin Leap on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:16:35 AM
I was at a local Oktoberfest celebration this past weekend. It was a great mix of people, really. Professionals and laborers, kids and adults, young and old. It was just like the emergency room where I work. It was a little slower than normal, possibly because of the economy, or the nearby Clemson University football game. But it was still busy.
Looking around, I noticed something interesting. Cell-phones were everywhere. All over the field, adults, teens and smaller children were talking or texting on cell-phones. Not just well-dressed people who obviously had money. It was everyone, right down to muscle shirt wearing guys, Disney character wearing children, grandmothers, grandfathers and mini-skirt wearing high-school girls.
And it hit me. How bad is the economy if everyone has a cell-phone, and obviously has an unlimited text-message plan? Mind you, many of them would never even consider paying for health insurance. The ones with nice phones come to my ER and say, 'my tooth hurts, but the dentist wants me to pay him, so I came here.' Mind you also, many of them are seduced by the idea of 'spreading the wealth around,' as espoused by Sen. Obama.
But with so many Oktoberfest celebrants smoking cigarettes, buying beer and using cell-phones, with nice trucks parked outside in the parking lot, I have to ask, 'just how bad is the economy?' And then I have to ask, 'just how much change do you really want with the next president?' Are things so bad that we need a change? And what change will we get?
(How about this change; instead of spreading wealth, let's also spread cell-phone minutes and text messages. Everyone share, say 35% of their cell-phone time with someone who can't afford it. If I suggested that at Oktoberfest, the results would have been worse than the rage I saw at 'line-cutting.' )
When cell-phones and their associated contracts can be the playthings of young people and the constant accessory of every adult, maybe things aren't so bad that we need a change anyway!
Edwin