Overheard

Courtesy Pixabay @ Public Domain

Today I had to take Mike, my oldest son, in for his annual checkup. He can't drive himself because of the broken leg. He has no money or insurance and has to use a local clinic that helps low income and indigent folks get medical care. Remember that last bit: low income and indigent. The sign on the doors say it is for the homeless. My son isn't homeless but income wise he qualifies. He has no income.

As we stood at our window a  young woman with a small child stood at the one next to us. She was using the business phone through the service window. Her conversation with the party on the other end of the line went like this. I wasn't eavesdropping. She was talking very loud.

"I'm calling for the person who has this phone. Whoever has this phone, you better return it. I have a tracker on that phone and I am calling the police. I will prosecute you when I find you and I will find you cause I'm tracking you. Whoever you are you need to get my phone back to me now."

She hung up and gathered her handbag. As she walked away she was loudly grumbling. "You better return my phone. That's a $750 phone and I'm not about to lose it."

$750 phone.
$0 medical care.

Yes, I'm making several assumptions. However, once you've worked where I've worked, you realize this is not the exception, this is the rule.

Welcome to America.