Thanks for Health

With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I would take a quick break and tell you about a conversation I had last night.

After my swim, I was in the locker room and there was a guy in there. For some reason, politics came up, and this guy had a few things to say about health care.

Seems this guy is really, really into walking. He told me he's walked 2800 miles so far this year. He walks every day, and bought some kind of shoes where their life is guaranteed for a certain amount of time, so he gets them re-soled for free.

Anyway, he has strong views on health care. He says we should make it up to each individual person to make it their goal to get into shape. They should be rewarded by their employers for hitting certain fitness goals. He doesn't like the way overweight people or smokers drive up health care for others.

I guess he felt free to tell me about all of this, because it was obvious from my two mile swims that I'm in for health and all that.

But I told him I thought he was missing a few points. Other people who drive up health costs are those people who don't carry insurance coverage, because they're in shape and feel bullet proof. Then they can't pay the bill when they get hospitalized, and that cost is spread to everyone else. I also feel that many poor are forced to eat foods high in fat because it's all they can afford.

I also told him some people are limited by health issues they can't prevent. I have arthritis and couldn't walk more than a mile or two without great pain. Fortunately, I can and do swim. My wife couldn't walk his program either, because her back exploded some years ago ... and she was a great athlete (I've still never beat her in HORSE and her serve in volleyball was devastating).

Anyway, thought I'd take a moment and share this story.

Have a fantastic Thanksgiving, and take care of yourselves.

Norm