thin BOX king

Why do we need "furlough Friday" shut-downs to save money? How about if we take 2 hours off each weekday, M-Th, and donate the time to Friday? All government agencies stay open 5 days a week; all employees continue to work; services are provided to the public in a timely manner; and life goes on. Anyone who truly believes that money is saved by shutting down one day a week doesn't understand the workplace.

How come all the "doctors" on TV shows have a lengthy list of possible diagnoses and none of them have attended medical school? When one fails, immediately the medical team goes to plan B, then C,D,E -- and through the alphabet if necessary. Don't real doctors have just a tiny niggling thought about what may be causing the problem? Say, 3-5 possibilities? Do we really need to get on the merry-go-round of maybes, tossing 'scrips and specialists at a problem until something sticks? Thank god for mayoclinic. com!

Ditto: prescriptions. Doctors write 'scripts for everything, whether it's an issue or not, what I've always called the "just in case" approach. My doctor told me I have to take a drug for the rest of my life because, as a diabetic, I risk possible future problems with my kidneys and liver. Ironically, it is a drug that is now being recalled as the complications from taking it are potentially lethal. Before automatically picking up the prescription pad, I'd ask myself "Is this drug necessary for the patient's health or am I prescribing it because the drug rep left a whole lot of samples for me to distribute to my patients?" I don't want to be the clinical trial the drug company should have conducted before handing out the samples for distribution through the insurance network of medical providers.

Imagine if, in my job, teaching college comp, I refused to help students who are not proficient in other English skills! Sorry: you have no idea how to use either a semi-colon or a colon, so you'll have to go to the advanced marks of punctuation specialist. After you complete treatment, please feel free to make a follow-up appointment to complete your comp class. Meanwhile, I'm prescribing 3 workbooks on punctuation, available at the local big box store, you can complete while you wait for punctuation therapy to be scheduled, and here's an additional prescription for something to help you relax and deal with your under-punctuation performance anxiety.

Why do sign-makers protesting illegal immigration crack-downs in Arizona address the issue of carrying documentation in perfect English? Do they not realize that the majority of illegal immigrants in the Southwest do not speak English, much less read it? Using the Spanish word for "papers," rather than "documentation," could be a giant step toward effective communication with the target demographic.

Why do city workers install stop signs in the middle of nowhere, but refuse to install them at dangerous intersections with a history of traffic accidents and fatalities? On our morning walk, the girls and I traverse the farthest street west in our little neighborhood. There, in the middle of the north-south road, is a stop sign. Yes, it's at an intersection, but the intersection is a T, so a person traveling west should stop to see whether there is traffic north-south. However, the stop sign is also for the north-south traveler -- perhaps as many as 50 a day, I'd guess.

However, on another east-west road, one that parallels the interstate, the only stop sign is for the north-south traveler intersecting the east-west road. The n-s traveler has a stop sign, but the e-w traveler does not on a road with a posted speed limit of 55 mph -- and the fatalities at this intersection are legendary, especially during the peak commute times. Removing the stop signs on my neighborhood street and installing them at the death corner would benefit both traffic situations.

Why does anyone think that it is okay for an employee to curse out an entire plane filled with travel-weary passengers before bailing out the emergency exit? I've been a hostage on a plane parked on the tarmac for 6 hours in the grueling summer sun at Dallas/Fort Worth, with no water, no food, a broken toilet, and no air conditioning -- and pleaded with the crew, as well as the pilot, whom I insisted come back to my seat and talk to me as I was not allowed to get out of my seat. He laughed at our plight, but did turn on the air conditioning. Had I stood up, marched to the front of the plane and demanded that the pilot do something, I would have been arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. My health and welfare, along with the rest of the passengers on that crammed-full flight, were definitely in jeopardy, but we had absolutely no recourse. This employee gets pissed off, goes off, and we're celebrating his "take this job and shove it" attitude?

Finally, what is it about people that allows them to clean their backyard and toss everything they don't want into the utility easement at the back of each property, effectively blocking access to the utilities. It's a moot point as the easement is blocked off by people who have extended their backyards the additional 8-10 feet, so utility workers/vehicles have no access to the pole at the back corner of my property, nor the telephone company box at the other end of it, much less a property owner (that would be me) who wants to clean up her small section of the easement filled with trash from neighbors who take the path of least resistance, rather than walk to the trash can. In my world, I'd fine the residents of the property adjoining the easement and make them clean it up. I'd also give the residents who have extended their property lines into the easement 30 days to dismantle the obstacles and open access the entire length of the block. But, I'd lose my job because, in this part of the country, the path of least resistance is the only way to go.

Oh, well.