My Beef With the Swine

I was recently taken back to the mid ‘80’s. My best friend Elena and I were sitting in her room with her rotary phone. We were desperate to get Billy Joel tickets. I remember clearly how that afternoon went. Dial, busy, dial, busy, dial, busy… This continued for nearly 2 hours. The final outcome was a recording which said all the tickets were gone. We were very disappointed, and had wasted 2 teenage hours of our lives.

How does this relate to the swine flu you ask? Well, just 2 days ago, I received an email from my children’s pediatrician’s office saying they had received a small amount of the H1N1 vaccine. They were taking appointments over the phone for 2 days only, while supplies last. So, I got on my cell phone and the race began. From 3:40 to 5 PM I hit redial. During that time I made a trip to Target with my kids, RWD (redialing while driving, must be illegal somewhere). No luck getting through. On the way home from Target, at approximately 4:15 I stopped by the pediatrician’s office. I thought perhaps I could get an appointment directly from the receptionist. Well I clearly wasn’t the only one who thought this. She politely told me I would have to do it by phone, keep trying she said. So, I kept it up. At 5 PM I gave up, since their office closes at that time. At around 5:30 I received another email from the pediatrician’s office saying all the appointments were taken, and we should stop calling.

I’m not sure that I felt worse than after missing out on the Billy Joel tickets, but I certainly felt more frustrated. Now we’re talking about the health of my children. I was angry and unsettled. Who got through? Were their kids more important than mine? A third email arrived shortly after from the ped’s practice saying they were sorry about the whole situation, but not to be nasty to their staff. I completely understand that it’s not the doctors’, nurses’, receptionists’ faults. The state of NJ only has a certain amount of vaccine and each practice gets what they get. So, I do not in any way blame the practice. I thoroughly respect all of the doctors and nurses at this practice and will continue to do so through out this public health disaster.

Now on to part 2 of this story. A note came home in my son’s school folder last week, that there would be an H1N1 vaccine clinic at one of the local schools on 11/4/09, from 4-7 PM, for kids in grades k-3. They would apparently only have the mist, no injection. So I picked my son up at the school bus at 3:40 and we headed over. When we arrived at the school at 3:50, there were barricades up and police presence, to keep the crazed parents in line. The line was around the school. There was no parking.

I decided at that time, that it was not worth it. Do I want my children to be vaccinated? Yes. However, I am no longer going to hit redial for 2 hours, and I’m not going to wait in line for 2 hours either. I am extremely blessed that I have 2 healthy young children. If the swine gets them, then we’ll just hope it’s not too bad and that they recover quickly and don’t suffer too much.

What all of this has made me realize is that we are a nation of, “I want it, and I want it now”. We’re used to getting everything that we want and need. Well, welcome to the way most of the rest of the world lives. Don’t you think the people in Africa want a malaria vaccine and clean water and food for their children? Why are we Americans so much more entitled that the rest of the world? Don’t get me wrong. I love all that I have and love this country (most of the time). However, I now have a small idea of what it’s like not to be able to get what you want all the time. The Rolling Stones said it best, “You can’t always get what you want”.