About eight years ago, I contracted a bad case of bronchitis. On the third day, I knew it wasn't a cold and went to an "approved" doctor under my then-insurance program. She examined me and said it was bronchitis and gave me the usual rest & fluids thing, plus a prescription. Fine. I was feeling miserable, feverish, weak and tired.
Then she asked me, out of the blue, if I owned any guns.
WTH? I asked how
that had any relationship to bronchitis. It didn't, of course. She asked again and I said I was confused by the question. Then she went on to say that guns kill people in the home and I should get rid of them...
because in my condition, I might shoot someone! I had to tell her that in "my condition" it was all I could do to lift a glass of water. Just before she left the room she stopped and said "You never did say if you owned a gun."
Feeling as I did she really annoyed me. "No, I don't own
a gun." I said. I noted she appeared to check a box or write a note in her chart, so I added, "Not
a gun. I own 68 guns, including some antiques."
"That many guns in a house are dangerous. You're likely to kill someone with one of those."
I told her, "I've had them for over a decade and no one has been hurt by any of them. Which is more than I can say for Ted Kennedy's car... or the scalpels of doctors."
Doctor's visit: $58
Prescription co-pay: $18
Rubbing a liberal doctor's nose in it: Priceless