a very brooklyn tale

im terribly forgetful and neglectful about even having a blog.  and the irony is i so often think, i have an opinion or tirade i want to make and simply no place to do so!  but it turns out i do!

yesterday i went to the pharmacy to refill my prescripts.  due to my recent return the white collar world, my health insurance has become not only cheaper but better.  ironic no?  when i had a shittier job and was making less money, my health care premium was $150 a month and did not cover drugs.  now with a better paying job (where my health will improve just by proxy) my health care premium is only about $70 a month and it includes drugs!   by the way, i had the same health insurance both times, empire blue cross/blue shield pmo, same doctors etc.  now that i get drugs covered, my cost per month on that goes from about $65 to $20 (including birth control!  suck it republicans).  did i mention i used to make LESS money and was paying 100% more for healthcare/drugs per month. 
and this is why health care in the us is bullshit... but i digress.

so i walked to my pharmacy, as i was saying, which is about 1/2 mile from my house.  why would i walk half a mile to go to the pharmacy when there are probably 5 pharmacies within 3 blocks of my house you ask?  because this is a very brooklyn tale and i only go to a family run pharmacy, which of course has limited hours!

anyway, on my way home i decided to stop into the local book store.  which is pretty good, though i must say my favorite bookstore in nyc is kinokuniya (even for english titles).  this particular store has frequent author talks and there was a lady talking about her book to a rather large group as i was browsing.  i caught only bits and pieces of the talk and from the context could not really get what she was trying to lay down.  there seemed to be something about having only one child as a "green" or environmental choice. and something else about feeling guilty for only having one child.

this is a very brooklyn tale because this lady wrote a whole book about why its ok to have or decide to have an only child.  as if being an only child is some psychological affliction.

people with choices, that is to say, those with education, money and many other rare things get to make these choices for themselves, while many others never get to make these choices.  even i find it toooo much to convince people that having only one child does not make them bad people, i agree that they are not bad people.  what makes them bad people is not recognizing that this is not an actual problem.  and that someone had to write a book about it and that soooo many people went to hear.
some people cant physically have any children at all!  does that make them bad?  how crazy.

full disclosure.  i am an only child (with an older half brother, who i would also categorize as an only child).  maybe i am less prepared for the harsh realities of the world, but i also would not have it any other way. ;)