Courtland Milloy is a fucking prick. He always has been, and he still is. God, what a fucking prick.
I reserve a special hatred for people who oppose things like vaccines. To do it by arguing racism is off my meter. Never mind that if people listen to this guy, more black women will end up with cancer than would have with vaccination. Nice sense of civic duty there.
Of course, you could also make these arguments for any disease. "So, the district is requiring vaccination for measles, a disease common in the third world? Are they saying black people in DC are culturally backwards and don't belong in this country?"
I reserve a special hatred for people who oppose things like vaccines.
Here's a case of deadly hysteria in a wealth country that is currently possessed by a fad for snake-oil alternative medicine.
Here's something even worse. The official UN report is much too even-handed. It should include the word "malicious" in about eight or nine places.
I just finished reading that horror in the dead-trees version and thought that surely some blogger would take note. What a piece of work.
Milloy won't even make the race argument straight-fowardly but relies on insinuation and association. It is an interesting variation of the Christianist's opposition. They say that the vaccine will make the girls loose women. Milloy is saying that requiring the vaccine means we are (rascistly) saying the girls are already there.
Now, to read the comics and see why LB is back up north.
Wow, way to kill people, dude. But at least he got a column out of it.
Is it really that offensive to presume that people will be sexually active at some point in their lives? Is the author under the misconception that the vaccine only lasts 5 years?
Aw, jeez. This is a mess. I wish people wouldn't be irrational.
Although, you know, if DC is one of the first school systems to require the HPV vaccination, I wouldn't be surprised if there were a racial component to the decision. I'd expect the HPV vaccination to be unpopular among lots of parents across the board demographically -- it connects the idea of your pre-teen and sexually transmitted diseases, which is going to creep people out (irrationally, but it is). I'd think a school system that believed it had a lot of engaged parents (white, upper-middle-class) would shy away from the vaccine even if they thought it was good policy because they'd expect it to provoke a nasty fight, while the DC schools might go ahead with it because they expected their parents not to be involved enough to care.
I don't know that that was the thinking at all, and even if it was, that doesn't make the decision to require the vaccine a bad or a racist one, but I can see a possibility that the decision making process was racially, or at least class, loaded.
but I can see a possibility that the decision making process was racially, or at least class, loaded.
But maybe that's not a bad thing. Who's going to have the good access to quality health care if they get cervical cancer? Inner city blacks? I don't think so.
ARHP estimates that 3/4 of the adult population has been exposed to HPV. 3/4! Vaccinating kids doesn't mean that you assume they are promiscuous; you don't have to be an epidemiologist to understand that you have to administer the vaccine *before* kids are sexually active for the program to be effective.
Who's going to have the good access to quality health care if they get cervical cancer? Inner city blacks? I don't think so.
You're presuming that just because these kids are poor and inner-cityish now, they'll be poor and inner-cityish in 30 years when they are of cancering age? I believe you're forgetting our classless society. Also, the soft bigotry of low expectations.
I wonder if he would write the same column if there was a vaccine for HIV that was mandatory.
11: Oh, it's not a bad decision. I'm just saying that I can see the reasoning being "Well, we can't make middle class white people do this despite it's being a good idea -- they'll fight us tooth and nail. Poor black people on the other hand we can just steamroller."
Maybe Courtland Milloy could get a job delivering sperm.
The column has a sidebar listing blogs that refer to the piece. Right now, there is only one: Unfogged. Could it be we'll get some pastry? (Also, that was fast!)
Oh, the Post has its own page of comments on the piece:
I anticipate a piece from Glenn Beck on CNN tonight about how the government is giving criminals and illegal immigrants access to life-saving vaccines BUT YOU, THE VIEWER, GET THE SHAFT. Hatred for nonprofit evidence-based public health interventions is truly something we can all find a place for in our hearts.
Nobody is mentioning it, but Milloy has a lovely moustache.
My daughter was home sick yesterday, we went to the doctor and they threw in an HPV vaccination with the visit.
But she's sixteen, and I don't remember it coming up before; her pediatrician has the file and wouldn't have given this to her if she'd already had it, unless immunity wears off, which I don't remember hearing.
I thought it was time about a year ago, although she didn't, nor did my wife or our women friends for her to get her own OB/GYN—come on guys, lets all say it together—my reasoning is her issues are much better served at this point by that specialty, but maybe I'm all wet. I know good ones are hard to find.
come on guys, lets all say it together
Sure, but some of us will say it with three fewer syllables.
20 - I think the HPV vaccine is a series of three shots, like Hepititis.
I think the HPV vaccine is a series of three shots, like Hepititis.
Gardasil is multiple shots, and not cheap. Like 300 bucks.
some of us will say it with three fewer syllables
Or, as Somebody (?) suggested late in the acrimonious pronunciation thread, with two fewer syllables.
The state of New Hampshire has made the HPV vaccine part of their free vaccine program for children. It's not quite the same as adding it to the school vaccination list, but it's a significant step.
20: She really doesn't particularly need one until she's sexually active; other than birth control and STD screening, there's not all that much you need to go to a gyno for regularly barring pap smears, and with the HPV vaccine those are significantly less important.
Although, I suppose that's a good reason for encouraging her to make a gyno appointment regardless -- so that making one at some later date doesn't feel like an admission of anything, and so doesn't get put off or avoided. I'll have to remember that thought process when Sally gets to be a teen. (And my apologies, Cochava (do I remember the spelling of that correctly) for bringing up your hypothetical sex life online.)
my apologies [...] for bringing up your hypothetical sex life
...but that's just what we do here.
"Established relationship" was my reasoning, maybe it's time to return to the subject, although my persuasive power on this is not very strong against the prevailing opinion.
She has a follow-up shot in two weeks, I think
Well, we can't make middle class white people do this despite it's being a good idea -- they'll fight us tooth and nail. Poor black people on the other hand we can just steamroller.
But that's not really the reasoning, though. It's not like the people making the law had a choice of which groups to target, and chose black people; you make laws with the constituency you have, not the constituency you want. I mean, maybe if DC is acting at the direction of some larger force of nature, but I don't really see that either. Seems like just plain old good idea to me.
A friend, whose parents are doctors and hippies, started going to a gynecologist as a matter of course at 13. I think her parents linked it with puberty, rather than sexual activity.
This was the friend who peer-pressured me into seeing my first gynecologist; my parents were completely unable to talk about this sort of thing.
my first gynecologist
Great title for a children's book.
I was actually one of the girls you worry about, who suggested the idea of my going to a gynecologist at 17 and got the "what the hell for?" response? I was so embarrassed that I immediately dropped the subject and ended up talking to a friend's hippy mom to get birth control info, then going to a pharmacy and getting it without a prescription (simpler times, third-world countries, loose pharmacological constraints, etc.)
Funny the way these nuts (either this one or the right wing variety objecting for reasons of "tarnished innocence" etc) don't have a problem with the rubella vaccine, which for years has been given to girls at around age 10-12 for the same reason i.e. before they are likely to be sexually active so that they can't later get rubella during a pregnancy.
33; Yeah, I put it off for too long myself -- too shy to bring it up (as I would have had to to use my parents' health insurance) in high school, and the campus health services in college were off-putting. I used over-the-counter birth control through college, and didn't see a gyno until my senior year.
Really, I think that oral contraceptives should be available over the counter. There's no real reason that you need a prescription, above and beyond the small chance of averse reaction that all medications have, because there's no common condition that has you going in to the gyno and they say (oh, I'm sorry, I can't prescribe that for you). I realize that part of the impulse is to get women in for the pap smear and the rest of the exam, but I don't think that's enough of a good reason to trump up the need for a prescription, when there really isn't a great one.
Insofar as you think teen pregnancy is a bad thing (which I realize I've argued on the other side even at this website), OTC oral contraceptives are an unmitigated good.
Well, history of stroke or clotting disorders, certainly, but I'll agree that those aren't common, and BC pills are probably much safer than lots of other OTC drugs. But making BC pills available over the counter encourages teh unbridled female sexuality!
Yay, unbridled female sexuality!
making BC pills available over the counter encourages teh unbridled female sexuality
In that case, I propose we put them in the municipal water supply.
Actually, you do this sort of thing, apo. Are we missing safety issues with BC? I don't think we are, but you might know something.
40 -- "this sort of thing" s/b "have an enormous manhood"
Since every member of my immediate family reads this site, let me just say that there remain alternate medical sources, because BC pills are good prescriptions for other conditions. I've just been surprised my sense of when to transition isn't more widely shared, and the issue seems to come with all this baggage. But every issue involving women as such does; I should just get used to it.
I'm not entirely sure about the OTC oral contraceptive idea. There are a lot of different dosages and brands, and some tinkering is often appropriate. Hormonal contraceptives can also have a number of weird side-effects (which we've talked about); some guidance, or at least feeling as though somebody is responsible for guiding you, is really helpful. For better or for worse, most consumers consider OTC prescriptions to be fairly anodyne.
I'm kind of torn -- I'd like to see birth control more widely available but have personal issues with The Pill that I don't know if I would have figured out if getting it didn't require a trip to the doctor. So.
Also, for IDP and others with teenage daughters, I'm especially conflicted with putting teenagers on The Pill. Great way to prevent an accidental teenage pregancy (which, as we've covered, most of us believe is A Very Bad Thing) but it's much harder to tell if The Pill is messing with you if you don't ever know how your body worked without it.
I agree that it's anodyne, but I still think it would be better if were available without a prescription, mostly for the teenage-girl factor, even fewer of whom than the average have stroke or clotting disorders.
As to the "lot of different dosages and brands" thing, this always makes me sad, because in Egypt, there were a lot of projects related to development that basically amounted to handing out BCP (back in the golden Clinton years). No consideration of individual sensitivity to hormones, or tinkering. It sucks that we have two standards for medication administration, one for poor people (for the love of god, just give it to them!) and one for rich people/people in rich countries (but is it going to make my breasts swell?!).
(Not to minimize, of course, the side-effects of BCP which I have experienced and personally know really suck a lot.)
I guess, but IME you have to be fairly lucky to get much guidance on side effects from a gyno; I never did. Never needed it -- the first BC prescription I was ever given worked fine, without significant side effects -- but no one brought it up. And the thing is, consumers of BC pills are now limited to those who have access to a gyno, so of course they don't mind it -- the relevant population is those who don't.
It's not a huge issue, but I bet it would make a difference to unintended pregnancy rates. (Actually, come to think of it, OTC birth control pills would have kept me from having an abortion -- I took a month or so to get in to an appointment after starting a sexual relationship (I was uninsured and unemployed, and had some trouble figuring out a low income clinic) and got knocked up using condoms in the weeks between getting a prescription and hitting the point in my menstrual cycle when I could start the pills.)
Actually, you do this sort of thing, apo.
I thought you were making reference to putting them in the water supply. No, honest, that wasn't me!
BC pills are safe from a mortality standpoint, sure, but the reason JM lists above is a pretty good one. Hormones are powerful substances that affect different people quite differently. Also, while the information is all there on the package insert, we do know that very few people actually sit down and read those things. So probably a decent idea to have a medical professional explain the implications of missing a pill, taking antibiotics, etc. Especially to a teenager.
Once they've been prescribed, though, I don't see any reason why you should have to see a doctor to get it refilled.
BC pills can cause blood clots, but according to my gynecologist, the risk of blood clots during a normal pregnancy is greater than the risk of blood clots while on the pill. Oral contraceptives may double your risk, but your risk is really small to begin with.
So probably a decent idea to have a medical professional explain the implications of missing a pill, taking antibiotics, etc.
See, as a matter of fact, no one at the clinic I went to did this, nor did a later gyno I went to in law school. It's a nice idea, but requiring a prescription doesn't ensure that people will get counselling.
We should just Norplant all teenage girls as a rite of passage, and yank the think only after they are delivered into the loving hands of their husband.
yank the think
You've got another thing coming, SCMT.
it's much harder to tell if The Pill is messing with you if you don't ever know how your body worked without it.
This, definitely. Plus, the Pill is sort of tricky. Must be taken the same time every day, must be started on a schedule, must not be missed, and can cause a bunch of little side effects that it's nice to have a doctor to ask about.
I know this isn't what people are writing, but everytime I read BC pills I think of this BC product. A pause reorients my brain.
See, LB's second paragraph in 46 is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about. We can try to empower teenage girls all we want, but the truth of the matter is that many teenagers having sex were, like I was, in a position of reduced power and information, and go through bargaining (if they're lucky) in terms of birth control choices. My (older) boyfriend wanted to have sex without condoms, and if I hadn't been able to game the system by getting BCP without a prescription, I could have easily ended up pregant.
can cause a bunch of little side effects that it's nice to have a doctor to ask about
Yeah, so the nurse practitioner at the college clinic can tell you "oh, that's normal, just wait another month and see if it goes away" until you have to fight with her to get your prescription changed.
Really, I think we're assuming way more awesome doctors/practitioners than most people actually have. I love my doctor, but even the last time that I got a BCP prescription, and was asking for a specific type of hormone-makeup, she was just looking things up in a book like I'd already done anyway.
Or, you know, if you were just an idiot in your mid-twenties who somehow managed to screw up condom usage.
requiring a prescription doesn't ensure that people will get counselling
That's absolutely true, but if you do have questions or feel like you need counseling, it's nice to have somebody--not a NIH statistical overview, not a pharmacist's crappy printout--responsible for answering you.
It doesn't always work out that well, I'll admit: when I went on the pill comparatively recently, I called up my doctor, was given patently wrong information from the receptionist, and later raised an absolute stink with the doctor, when I finally got a hold of him. But since I paid good money for the consultation, the doctor owed me answers, dammit.
55: Good points. I've had an incredibly good experience with my university clinic OB/VGYN, but if she weren't any good, it wouldn't be much better than asking the internet.
I don't really have any problem with the BC pill being over the counter, and the real reason it's not already has nothing to do with teen safety. Still, even though it's about as safe as Advil, it seems that the consequences of screwing up with the bcps are greater than screwing up with an Advil, just due to needing to take the thing at the same time every day.
I'm in agreement with the OTC side, but I'm not a big fan of the prescription system anyway. The bit about different ones affecting you differently - people go through this with pain medications or cold remedies as well, and tinkering to find the right one for you would probably be easier if you could just pick up a different one one month.
Prescriptions generally - I'm okay with the mechanism where your doctor specifies and writes down a particular drug and the pharmacist dispenses it, since I see the risk of confusion if they just tell you to get something, but the bit where the drugs are restricted to being obtained in this manner seems mostly pointless. I'm willing to believe that it's good for everybody if antibiotics are restricted through a gatekeeper, but with the present state of medicine, who are we benefitting by restricting, say, Nexium or Lipitor?
I think the idea is that you can hurt yourself by taking drugs that aren't indicated for your condition, and you don't have the expertise to evaluate what your condition is. The thing that makes BC a tempting possibility for going OTC is that the indicated condition is being a fertile woman who doesn't want to be pregnant, which is a pretty easy lay diagnosis.
a fertile woman who doesn't want to be pregnant, which is a pretty easy lay
Only if she has access to birth control.
Requiring prescriptions is good for doctors since it prevents pharmacists from playing doctor (quite common in countries without prescription regimes). It's good for insurance companies because it keeps disbursements down. And it's good for pharmacists since it makes comparison-shopping harder.
If it's good for patients I submit that this is an afterthought. But maybe I'm just snarky from reading about DRM in Vista.
59: While the drugs themselves might not be all that harmful if misused, I think the risk lies in that the patient might not know what their condition is without a medical visit. I might be able to handle buying Lipitor over the counter and using it properly, but I'm pretty sure I can't diagnose high cholesterol on my own. But why would I go to the doctor if he's going to prescribe the same stuff I can walk in and buy on the shelf?
Plus, many drugs interact with each other in bad ways. One of the jobs of a pharmacist is to check that the prescriptions a patient has already won't interact badly with the new one. You'd lose that safeguard entirely, and add to that the self-diagnosing, and I think you end up with a nasty chemical soup. Caveat emptor and all that, but most people don't have the expertise necessary to diagnose themselves (why we invented med schools.)
who are we benefitting by restricting, say, Nexium or Lipitor?
Not to mention narcotics.
it prevents pharmacists from playing doctor
I don't see why this is a good thing except for doctors, when pharmacists have just as much, if not more, knowledge about how drugs work and what they do, and what they're for. Of course, I'm biased, coming from a country that effectively has no prescription regime, since you can get almost anything without a prescription if you know what you're looking for.
And it's often much easier to talk to a pharmacist than it is to go to a big scary intimidating moralizing doctor's appointment (not that I'm bitter or anything..)
who are we benefitting by restricting, say, Nexium or Lipitor?
Funny you should ask! I have a good friend who used to monitor clinical trials, and one study he was on was a Phase I trial (first time in humans) of an anti-psychotic drug. Phase I trials are generally done with healthy volunteers to check for safety and pharmacokinetics. So anyhow, these were people volunteering for a week-long stay in the facility and monitored closely while they took doses of this experimental psych drug.
The dropout rate started going through the roof, because patients were having very bad psychological reactions, feeling like they were going insane. Turns out this drug just happened to be metabolized by the same liver receptors as either Lipitor or Nexium, which meant that the people who were also taking these drugs weren't getting the anti-psychotic drug cleaned out of their system, and every new dose they took was just upping the already ridiculously high level in their bloodstreams. And if you aren't psychotic, high doses of anti-psychotics will make you feel like you are.
Or, on preview, the 2nd paragraph of #63 there.
Will nobody think of the poor lonely opiates going unused due to an authoritarian regimen of mandatory prescriptions!
Spare a moment for poor ether -- sick and withered, sitting out in the rain because nobody will take him in!
(er, ah, I mean "æther" of course.)
poor lonely opiates
This reminds me of a joke that everybody here has probably already heard, so just skip on past if you know it.
A bear walks into a bar in Billings, Montana and orders a beer. The bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve no beers to no bears in no bars in Billings," so the bear stands up and leaves.
The next day the same bear walks into the same bar, sits at the same bar stool, the same bartender comes over and asks what the bear wants. Bear says "I want a beer." The bartender says "Listen, we don't serve no beers to no bears in no bars in Billings," so the bear gets mad and leaves again.
The next day the same bear walks into the same bar, sits at the same bar stool, the same bartender comes over and asks what the bear wants. Bear says "I want a beer." The bartender says "Listen, I've told you already. We don't serve no beers to no bears in no bars in Billings." The bear gets furious and exclaims, "Either give me a beer or I'm going to eat that woman sitting over there!"
The bartender shrugs at the bear and replies, "I don't make the rules, partner. You do what you hafta."
The bear charges across the room, picks up the woman, and devours her. Then he goes back to the bartender and growls, "Now you know I'm serious, so give me a beer!"
The bartender says, "We don't serve no beers to no bears in no bars in Billings, and furthermore we don't serve drug addicts."
The bear gets confused and says "Drug addict? I'm not a drug addict!"
"Oh yeah? Well, that was the bar bitch you ate."
I don't trust many doctors to handle BCP guidance competently. I've had too many experiences with uncommunicative doctors who made me feel like I was an idiot for thinking anything was wrong with me.
I understand the argument for keeping BCP behind the rx lock and key, but it would be awfully nice for me to get them OTC -- I take them back-to-back (like Seasonale, only I use a BCP more suited to my body chemistry) and pharmacists and insurance companies give me hell for it just about every damn time I walk in for my refill. It sure would be nice to just buy a new pack every three weeks along with my Sudafed and acetaminophen, instead of having to pick it up with my Flexeril and Vicodin.
As far as the article -- it's maddening that people can be against something like this when near 80% of women contract HPV sometime in their lifetime. My maternal grandmother died of cervical cancer and I've been looking into the vaccine myself -- it boggles the mind that anybody could resist preventing such a thing for their daughters simply because of the implication of sexual activity. Bleh.
I don't trust many doctors to handle BCP guidance competently.
I understand this sentiment, but I trust them more than I trust teenagers to go find that information on their own, rather than just accepting whatever their (possibly similarly) underinformed friends tell them. No good, comprehensive solution here, I suspect.
65, 71: I don't like the idea of most currently prescription-only drugs being available over-the-counter, but birth control is one of those drugs that Behind-The-Counter is really made for. It's safe enough and common enough that it shouldn't need a prescription, but has some side-effects and quirks of usage that a pharmacist really should tell you about.
65 gets it exactly right. Just like with my Effexor, the pharmacist is really in a perfectly fine position to say "the common side effects for this are x, y, and z--if you experience any of these, be sure to come back here or make an appointment with a doctor right away." And it won't cost you $50 to be told that, either. It's ridiculous not to have b.c. available otc.
Oh, and with the issue of asking for a gyno appointment and getting the "what for?!?"--when I decided to go on bc, I just called Planned Parenthood and then borrowed the car while lying about where I was going. Somehow we've got to figure out a way to let girls know that they can actually do that.
Plus, many drugs interact with each other in bad ways.
Absolutely, and this is why only a licensed pharmacist can sell you booze.
While we're on the subject of birth control (or the absence thereof): Today I'm home alone all day with the baby for the first time. Parents of the Mineshaft: what do I do?? I knew about two hours worth of baby-entertainment tricks. Now he just laying there and staring at me. And whimpering.
Staring and whimpering is good. If he starts to scream, pick him up and pat him until he returns to whimpering.
Having a beer is exactly like self-diagnosing yourself for high cholesterol.
(Not to mention that one of the things your friendly pharmacist does is stick the little labels on the bottle that tell you that it's bad take your muscle relaxants with alcohol. Or to take the birth control pill and anything.)
Isn't your baby about five months old? Aren't they pretty much limpets at that age anyway?
Bundle him up and go for a walk. Stroller, sling, whatever. Babies like moving around.
In other possibilities, have you got one of those floor mats with dangly things overhead? Very highly thought of among the preverbal set.
Or, of course, recognize that whimpering isn't crying, and he may be just fine with whatever he's doing now.
Have a beer! Great suggestion, Cala.
Babies don't like beer. Too bitter.
Give him some Frangelico.
Yeah, bundle him up and have a beer. IME, if you're holding/carrying a kid that age, they don't need to be entertained. Hell, he's probably about ready to have a nap, and if you snuggle him while drinking a beer, he'll nod off.
Very true. There's a lot to be said for laying on the couch on a winter day with a beer and a warm baby lying on you. Very cozy.
B. is right -- that young, possible desires are mostly Food, Hold Me, Too Hot, Too Cold, I Have Befouled Myself, and Sleep. If you run through basic possibilities often enough, you should hit what the kid wants.
I just called Planned Parenthood
Thank the lord for PP. You're spot-on that the best thing we could do would be to advertise what they offer loudly and frequently. I've known plenty of grown, educated women who were under the impression that it was nothing more than an abortion clinic.
Babies don't like beer. Too bitter.
Both of my babies liked beer.
Heh. I gave Sally a sip when she wanted it at two or so, thinking the bitterness would put her off. She took a sip, thought for a moment, and then tried to stick her entire head in the glass.
I've known plenty of grown, educated women who were under the impression that it was nothing more than an abortion clinic.
I have actually had a conversation with a grown, educated, pro-choice person who said "You know, I think half the PR problem Planned Parenthood has is that they're just abortion clinics. If they provided other GYN care, people wouldn't oppose them so much."
Behind the counter would also mean that the pharmacist could also make sure you know about the interactions between BCP and antibiotics.
However, I'd be a bit worried that pharmacists are more moralizing and awful than doctors. Look at all the stupid stuff involving pharmacists and Plan B.
thinking the bitterness would put her off
So far with Noah, this approach has proven faulty with beer, wine, and coffee. There's nothing that little fucker won't drink, it seems. And he gets very agitated that you won't give him more after the first sip.
We have been sufficiently influenced by neighborhood childrearing practices that we're letting Sally drink very milky coffee. Doesn't seem to do her any harm.
Planned Parenthood sent me away with a 12 month supply of my first BCP in a paper sack. Granted, that particular pill pretty much sent me psycho, but still -- I do love that place. They do far more than a lot of people realize, and a lot of women who are uninsured or otherwise without care right now would do good to be informed of everything PP offers, and take advantage of it.
92: Most pharmacists are good folks. And god knows there are paternalistic doctors. It's just that most medical practitioners who aren't willing to prescribe bcp *don't become ob/gyns.*
Which is how it should be for pharmacists.
95: In some places, PP also takes care of men who are uninsured. They're one of the best organizations out there.
Granted, that particular pill pretty much sent me psycho, but still
Yep, me too. Was it Lo/Ovral? Apparently they get a special deal on that one, and nobody else has seen it on the market for almost a decade.
Also, the PP I went to had better security than the airport.
97: Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. Turns out triphasics just don't agree much with me. My gyn switched me to a low dose monophasic and encouraged me to skip the placebo weeks due to severely painful periods, which even the Pill doesn't lessen, and since then I have been fairly blissful, at least re: bcp.
That was when I was in Orange County -- when I returned to the central San Joaquin Valley, where I was raised, for about six months last year, I discovered the "local" PP was hundreds of miles away and pretty stripped-down. Of course that was also where I encountered most of the asshole docs I've put up with. My budget was fairly stretched at the time, but I was all too happy to write a donation check in hopes of helping even a little with some expansion. It's hard to make use of services offered when they aren't really accessible.
Asleep! Blessed mechanical swing!
82/86/87- I really don't appreciate your tone. I've got an awful lot invested psychologically in the idea that this is the most difficult and time-consuming he will ever be.
Heh. No, sorry. Walking till three-ish is what I'd call the low point; able to do a lot of stuff, but very hard to communicate with or control. But I don't know from teenagers yet.
Actually, my experience of a second baby was that the baby period was sort of blissfully effortless -- once I was over the first-baby not knowing how they work bit, it's like having a snuggly little immobile pet around the house.
100: No. It's the time when you'll *worry* about him the most, which is remarkably draining. But in a few years his actual *demands* are gonna mean that you don't have any energy left for worrying.
Speaking of OTC vs. prescription:
I had the most irritating experience yesterday when PetSmart wouldn't sell me Rabbit & Peas catfood. It requires a prescription .
It's limited ingredient, for cats with allergies. Meaning you're buying 1) rabbit, and 2) peas.
Also, the PP I went to had better security than the airport.
No kidding. When we replaced a copier at work a few years ago, we donated the old one to the local planned Parenthood, and it was like being buzzed into a maximum security prison.
100: Oh Jesus, Brock. I hate to tell you this, but you're at the very easiest stage, when they remain exactly where you put them down and don't swing anything toward your crotch. They only get more time-consuming and exhausting until they reach 8 or 9 and decide they really just want you to leave them the hell alone with the XBox.
The upside is that the continue to get cuter and more interesting as they get more difficult. IME, you start hitting diminishing returns around 7. At least with boys, anyhow.
Mine haven't peaked yet. They do want to be left alone with their Gameboys, though.
103 -- WTF? seriously? I had no idea you even needed a prescription to get animal medicine, let alone pet food.
106 -
I told the manager, "It's not like it's narcotics. It's just what I feed them. It's just rabbit, and peas."
He was like, "You don't know what damage you may be doing to your other cat."
I was like, "Fuck you, you blowhard," but I kept that to myself.
Read more! The story was so beyond exasperating that I've written it up. If you'll be so kind as to click on my name, you too can vicariously roll your eyes.
Don't read more, actually. There's not much more to it than what I wrote above.
103: That's insane. Fuck PetSmart--is there a decent independent pet store where you live? We feed our cat *venison* and pea catfood, and we didn't need a prescription for it.
I usually go through my local vet, and they order the cat food on my behalf. But I had to go to PetSmart to return a Christmas gift.
105: I have this fear that all our children will grow up to have grossly overdeveloped thumb muscles.
108: I just want to tack on in response to the snooty PetSmart clerk. "It's a house cat. It also eats twist-ties. It is not going to die from higher-quality pet food."
Also, the PP I went to had better security than the airport.
I don't want to sound all Republican, but that's what you'd expect - of course the private sector does better than the federal government.
113: Or perhaps it has something to do with PP having a lot more experience with terrorist attacks.
107: I'm curious. Is Rabbit & Peas less expensive than other cat foods, or more so?
114: That too. In fact, probably mostly that.
We feed our cat *venison* and pea catfood, and we didn't need a prescription for it
Venison and peas is what we had for Christmas and you give it to your fucking cat?
114 - It's more expensive. But it pays for itself in no time flat by time saved not spent cleaning up puke and the runs. WORTH EVERY PENNY.