My wonderful, right wing Grandmother in Law

I love her dearly, and she has helped us out on countless occasions. So, I can't get upset with her too much because of her politics. But what she said to me yesterday really opened up a bit of a monologue from me.

I drove by to pick up our child from Grandma. She told me that her diabetes strips had gone up from 20 to 100 dollars. She is lucky - she draws her deceased husband's pension (with health insurance), Social Security, and of course, Medicare.

Grandma is a staunch conservative who is looking forward to going "home" (her name for heaven). She's a fundamentalist, but she usually keeps it to herself. She votes for candidates because she wants government out of our business. Yet, she's for prayer in schools and other tried and true issues from the right. Oh, and before some of you Texas haters start ragging on her, she is originally from Minnesotand moved to Texas in her early 30's (just to let you know that we don't have a monopoly on fundies). She is currently a strong and sturdy 81 year old.

Well, this is when I finally spoke up. I told her it was time for universal health care. I told her it would probably not be in her lifetime, and quite frankly maybe not in mine (I'm 46), but it was going to happen. I said that medicine shouldn't be about profit. Grandma replied, "Well, maybe a little profit." That's when I interjected, "Grandma, I have been in education and working with kids for 22 years. What if I just said, 'I'm not here for the kids; I'm just here for the paycheck'. How would people respond?" Then I added, "But why is it okay for someone going into medicine because he or she wants to make a lot of money?" I told her that was wrong on so many levels.

I know I didn't sway her, but maybe I planted a seed there. Oh, and I added if we were in Canada, or France, or England, or any other industrialized western nation, her payment would have been zilch.

I think I'll lend her my Sicko movie. Maybe she will watch it.

nt

who also happen to be catholic. my grandfather was president of a democratic club for most of my life. my grandmother went to church and prayed every day. when she passed, my mom said to me "i hope for grandma's sake there is a heaven -- she worked so hard to get there".

i often wish that grandpa was still around so we could discuss politics.

i think both my grandparents would have liked the idea of universal health care.

as far as prayer in the schools, we all attended catholic school -- so prayer was part of it.

i'm an atheist.

:hi: