HALF A MILLIONAIRE

The physician: I have spent twelve years in high school, four years for undergraduate study, four years in medical school and two years in residency, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My student loans total about $300,000, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. This clinic costs me thousands to operate, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. My malpractice insurance costs me about $100,000 per year, so I have the right to charge you whatever I want. If I make a mistake, you can take me to court. And, probably, you will be awarded millions. I did have passion when I was in school. But, in the real world, I must protect myself. And, I have the right to make a lot of money because I am a licensed professional. Not everyone can do what I do. You pay a high price to see me because I am one of the best. That is how capitalism works. You can seek another doctor if you want to save some money.

The patient: (silent)

The insurance company: If you read section IV, Part 3, Paragraph (i), Point (a), it tells you that your condition is not covered by your current plan because it is classified as a pre-existing disease, meaning you had had it for years before you bought our product. We understand that you possibly did not know about it. Or, perhaps, you did know about the disease but lied to us when you purchased our product. Honestly, had you told us about your condition, I am assuming that if you had known, we would not have sold our product to you in the first place anyway. Sorry, we are in this business to make a profit. 

The patient: That is ridiculous. I have been paying a very high premium. And, now, when I need it most, you deny to take care of me. Honest to God, I did not know anything about the condition. I am not a doctor, you know. But, the reason I buy insurance is to protect me in a situation like this one. Is there anything that I can do? Can I appeal?

The insurance company: We have to charge you a high premium to cover our costs. Again, we are a publicly traded company, so we must make a profit. Also, when you have time, take a look at your bill, last month you had a cataract surgery on your left eye, your doctor charged us ten thousands dollars. There are doctors out there who are very greedy and dishonest. They overcharged us. And, many of them even charge money for procedures that they do not perform. To answer your question, I do not know exactly how the appealing process works, but I will be glad to find out. Can I call you back in a few days?

The patient (confused and lost): Yes, please. Bye now.

President Obama: I am deeply sorry to hear your story. I know that many others are facing the same problem as you are. I want everyone to have health coverage because I believe that it is one of the fundamental rights promised to us and that is that we all have the right to pursue “happiness”. To be happy, we must feel secured about our job, our family, our retirement, our health, etc. My idea is to insert into our current healthcare system a public option that is more affordable and most importantly covers all members and their dependents without the pre-existing condition bull, please excuse my language. But, there are many cowboys and hotshots in Congress who oppose my plan because they think it will cost too much money to run. They are afraid that the government will fail because everything the government touches turns into cow dung. I just want to do it because we have been waiting for too long. So many have been suffering. Let us use tax payers’ money to take care of tax payers. I know the line will be long when you go to the hospital, but at least you know you will receive care. The doctors might not be the best and brightest, but they would be good enough to get the job done. I know that many will abuse the system to steal money from tax payers. But, hey, no system is perfect. I will fix it as I go. I hope I will be re-elected because there are so many things that I want to do for you. And, I need more than four years. And, I need your support to bring changes to America. I promise you that.

The patient (smiled and felt comforted): Thank you.

My personal opinion

I support the public option because my heart tells me that it is the right thing to do. I am willing to pay higher taxes to take care of my less fortunate neighbors. I am not trying to be a hero. Simply, I just believe that because life is short, we all need to be less greedy and more compassionate. However, I will not stop fighting to become wealthy because although money cannot buy happiness, it can buy me a lot of time. And, time is what I value the most.

About three summers ago, our backyard was blackened by a grass fire because it was very hot and dry. The firefighting captain concluded that the fire was probably started by a live cigarette butt tossed by a careless stranger. He also pointed out that there was a great amount of dead grass on the yard providing fuel for the fire to spread so fast. Because we were deeply traumatized by it, we could not stay in the house. Therefore, we moved in with our relatives for several days to avoid the messy and depressive scene. We slowly regained our sense of reality by talking about how lucky we were for being home on that day. We felt thankful for our neighbors’ warning and assistance. Our spirit was broken but not dead. A few months later, the grass grew back, but the memory of the horrific experience was indelible. We had to find a way to prevent it from happening again.

I began to study about grass fires. I learned that the common cause was the accumulation of foliage. Then, I read about lawn care and maintenance. Finally, I realized that the man whom I hired to take care of my yard used a lawn mower without mulching capability. Therefore, dead grass had been piling up on my yard for about two years. I fired him and took the matter in my own hands. I purchased a Yard Machine mower ($180) and a Homelite trimmer ($80). With the help of my father-in-law, I scalped away the debris on the lawn, allowing new grass to bud.

I am living in a rich neighborhood, where everyone pays for lawn service. My next door neighbor was surprised when he saw me cutting the grass for the first time. He warned me that it would be very tiring when the heat intensifies during the summer. Also, I did not know how to use the gas trimmer because it was very difficult to start. I thought about paying someone to do it for me, but I chose to keep on trying because I believed that I would get better at it. I kept telling myself that I had always been able to solve every problem in my life. Mowing the lawn should not be that hard. I was right. I have become a pro. For example, I have learned after many trials that to start the trimmer, I have to feel the tightness in the cord when I pull it, and I must squeeze the trigger all the way. To have a straight edge, it requires coordination among eyes, arms and feet: concentrate on the lawn’s edge, hold trimmer with steady arms and take small steps. When it gets hot, I do the outside half on Saturday and finish up the other on Sunday. Lawn mowing has become another fun game for me.

Strategically, I like to make “a game” out of everything that I do. For lawn mowing, I keep scores by adding up the amount of money that I save. I used to pay $35 per week or $140 per month for lawn care. I use the money to buy shares of a boring, dividend-paying stock. If the annual rate of return is 5 percent over 10 years, I will earn about $22,000 (minus the cost of equipments). I am also aware of the fact that I spend on average about two hours per week to take care of the yard. Someone can argue that if I can earn more than $35 in two hours from doing something else, then cutting grass is not financially smart. However, I like to look at it from a different angle. I do enjoy lawn mowing. For me, it is like playing golf. Besides being a physical exercise, lawn mowing is an activity that allows me to spend my alone time. Believe it or not, for me, it is like meditation. The concentration that I use to keep the mower on a straight line keeps my mind away form other issues for two hours. The morning air and the smell of freshly cut grass often remind me of my home town where I grew up. I used to play in wheat fields with my childhood friends. For me, it is a mental challenge: It is hot and tiring, but I will not give up. So far, three years have passed.

The hardest game in life is the one in which one’s opponent is oneself. To win, one needs to train oneself daily by approaching hardship or challenges with a positive attitude: I can do it. Although we all have heard the phrase before, only mentally strong individuals can actually do it. The trick is to challenge ourselves with simple goals. Slowly, our confidence will grow, and we will believe that no goal is impossible to reach. And, time will be the only uncontrollable constraint because it never waits for us. I am winning the lawn mowing game. Therefore, I will also be the victor of this game when I have $500,000.