Oct 09 2012
The Waiting Room
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Poster_for_The_Waiting_Room_Documentary.jpg
Well, my mommy taught me to be honest and hopefully Professor Davis doesn’t fail me for this, but I definitely dozed off for the first 10 minutes of the movie. I blame it on the darkness and coziness of the room
Anyway, once I actually woke up and started watching, I was amazed. That waiting room was PACKED. I felt bad for the doctors and nurses and staff and the people waiting hours and hours just to be seen. It seemed as though this was filmed in one day and if it was I hope it just so happened to be a busy day. Regardless, it looked stressful, unpleasant, and nutty in there. I was surprised more people weren’t filmed throwing fits.
The film in general got me thinking about Obama Care. Now, I’m not crazy about politics and all the shenanigans it entails but I didn’t ever give much thought to people who don’t have health insurance. It’s one of the many things that a lot of us overlook. We don’t think about it because we have health insurance and when we need to see a doctor we don’t think twice about it.
The most touching instance in this movie was the young man diagnosed with testicular cancer whose surgery was cancelled because he didn’t have health insurance. I just wanted to give him a hug. Poor guy. That must be such an awful feeling for him, his girlfriend, his family. Helpless is what I imagine him feeling in this situation.
Most of the people in the film demonstrated people truly in need of health insurance that didn’t have it. People recently laid off from their jobs, people of low-income families, people who just can’t afford this luxury. Now I understand a little more why people are rooting for Obama Care so fervently.
However, I also see the other end of the spectrum in this debate. What about the people who can work and simply don’t want to? The homeless crack/meth addict with a hangover – does he deserve health insurance? Those people that mooch off of tax payers like my parents to acquire benefits from the government? People who really don’t deserve this kind of aid.
The degree of government involvement is also scary. Aren’t we a free market, capitalistic society? The government has nothing to do with private insurance institutions so why get involved now? Obama Care from this point of view has a socialistic, borderline communistic edge to it. Not at all something Americans want for their nation.
It basically comes down to one question: do we help those in need and risk investing our money in people who don’t deserve it or do we ignore this issue and continue living our lives? It’s a difficult question to answer. I’m inclined to ‘do the right thing’ and help out those in need but would that really be the right thing to do?
Seeing this film made me realize why healthcare is such a controversial issue in America today. I don’t think I’ve made up my mind about it just yet but hopefully these politicians know what they’re doing. They probably don’t which is another scary thought…
Wahh, your opening line is so cute! Haha, but as for the rest of your post, you truly bring about such valid points. The film presents so many debates as to what the problems are in our healthcare system, our social system, as to the extent the two should be interconnected, so on and so forth. Also, I agree that it makes one feel more grateful for the type of healthcare that one receives if it’s better. Growing up with parents who both have stable jobs, co-incidentally in the medical field, has left me taking for granted the quality of care I get. I knew about others who didn’t get the same treatment but I guess that it was not until watching this documentary that I truly woke up and saw it. Now, it is undeniably more real to me than it ever was. You feel the same, right?