Aside from the fact that McCain doesn’t feel that women are held back in the workplace by any that “taking a few classes to update our skill set” couldn’t fix, he is a troglodyte on family planning. Barefoot kitchen wenches warming up buns in the oven might be overstating his take on the best place for American women but he certainly is doing his part to make that a reality.
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If he were Britney Spears, he would still be in the hospital but because he is a 42 year old man without decent insurance (or paparazzi coverage to keep those who are supposed to be looking out for his welfare on their toes) he is wandering free tonight. Which is a lesson to us all to not allow our mentally unhealthy friends and family have a breakdown in Marin County California. The General Hospital there doesn’t feel obligated to keep suicide attempt patients for the full 72 hours if they can figure out any way to release them sooner.
Despite multiple attempts to speak with doctors, DNOS mainly got stone walled, and when she finally did get the admitting doctor on the phone he wouldn’t give her his name. The psychiatrist decided that CB was not a danger to others (which I only sorta agree with as he regularly threatened to kill us when he was a teen and his ex is terrified of him when he is having one of his “episodes”) and that he is not a threat to himself. So I guess swallowing a bottle of anti-anxiety meds and a twelve pack is not a hazardous activity on the West Coast like it is everywhere else.
CB repeatedly told DNOS that he was going to get himself released and he would try to kill himself again, but to the doctors he was cooperation incarnate. He is a masterful manipulator. I will give him that. However he is so incredibly deluded I can’t imagine that he really fooled anyone.
The truth is he is very ill and treating him after all these years will take time. Time is money in the medical community in the United States and if you don’t have it, or the insurance equivalent, you will not get the attention and treatment that you need to get better.
My parents have accepted the fact that the next phone call from California could be about CB’s death. According to DNOS, they spent supper Saturday evening planning how they would have his body shipped back home for burial. They decided cremation would be best.
DNOS is very angry with CB. At one point in a conversation with him she told him she would have to call him back when she was calmer because she couldn’t deal with his shit him. This was when he was telling her his plans to extricate himself so he could be free to try again. CB retaliated by refusing to take her calls after that and finally told the hospital not to release any more information to his family. Typical. Deliberately drawing us into his drama and then pushing us out when we don’t respond as he wants us to.
But how were we supposed to respond? Only he knows and he wasn’t forthcoming with what he wanted from us. Whatever we were supposed to have done, we didn’t.
Knowing CB as I do he could very well be attempting to kill himself right now. Or he could be fuming and foaming at the mouth about how all his problems are our parents’ fault and that none of us really cares about him at all. To whom? Good question. But CB can always find an audience when he needs one.
I hope he chooses the latter. I don’t feel like carrying any regrets that I didn’t try and figure out how to get in touch with his doctor last week when he first threatened to harm himself. Of course, the doctors at Marin General never bothered to contact CB’s doctor either, so I guess I am not the only one with marks against me.
The United States of America is no place to lose one’s mind.
I was tagged by a new commenter at Nothing Fancy with a request for what amounts to more information about myself. As anyone who has read my blog for any amount of time knows, I don’t have any trouble at all writing about myself and I am TMI to a fault. So here goes:
The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.
(1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
The summer of 1998 was the last hurrah for my inner party girl. Hard to believe that such an introvert could have been such a social butterfly but that was me. I did a lot of volunteer work via the Des Moines Jaycees, ran and swam a lot and generally had fun. It was the prelude to me realizing that what made me most happy was being with Will – who was around and waiting for me to realize it.
(2) What are 5 (non-work) things on my to do list for today?
This is difficult because as a writer, I don’t work in any sense that is recognizable by the world at large. Even my “work” is not really work, or it doesn’t seem to be to me. And then, of course, there are the mom and housewife things which I won’t count either. Which leaves me with the following:
(3) What are my favorite snacks?
What the heck are snacks? I can’t eat anything that was processed within a mile of peanuts. Truthfully, I can’t eat anything processed, makes me sick as a dog. I have but one “snack” food and rarely have it in the house anymore – Nature’s Path Toaster Pastries – for some reason I can eat them. Otherwise its dried banana chips, raisins, cherries, grapes, baby carrots – I think you get the picture. Food allergies suck.
(4) Five things I would do if I were a billionaire.
(5) Places I have lived.
(6) Jobs I have had.
(7) Bloggers and friends I want to know more about.
I am not going to put undue pressure on anyone, so if this appeals to you (even just a single question) write a bit here or on your blog, and don’t forget to link back.
*I answered this meme pre-trip and before my brother’s suicide attempt.
