One of the most rewarding (and infuriating) experiences of being a parent is answering the question, “Why?”
When the kids are little, answering their questions requires you to actually know things. Why IS the sky blue? Why IS grass green? As they get older, the whys become more challenging. You will be forced to examine your beliefs and how you arrived at them. You had better be ready to explain your opinions with facts. “Because I said so.” is no longer an acceptable answer.
My oldest daughter is now 14.
Anyone who has ever had a teenager knows this means that I am a constant chauffeur. I'm always driving her and/or her friends somewhere. And I listen to talk radio. Anyone who has listened to talk radio in the last six months, knows that it's “All Healthcare, All the Time” Eleventy!
One day (I'm not sure who I was listening to) my daughter asked me, “What's wrong with giving people health care?”
We had been watching videos of the annual Rube Goldberg competition the night before, so I had an apt analogy at hand.
I asked her, “How do you make scrambled eggs? Step by step.”
“Well, you take the eggs out of the frig. Take the pan out of the cabinet. Spray the pan with Pam” etc..
A step by step of how to go from raw egg to fluffy scrambled goodness. (Though I add a little milk while I'm beating the eggs, but I digress)
Me, “So there's a lot of small, simple steps to turn raw eggs into something you can eat. And none of them cost us money, except for the things that are directly connect to the food: The eggs, the Pam and the electricity we use to cook. There's a lot of small, simple steps that Congress could take to make health insurance available to everyone. Like protecting doctors, so they don't get sued all the time.
“I can buy my car insurance from any company in the country; whoever has the best price for the coverage I want, but I have to buy health insurance only from Texas. It's the law”
“My company gets a tax break for buying my insurance. But I wouldn't get the same break if I just bought it for myself.”
“None of these things are complicated, and they don't cost anything”
“Now imagine one of those Rube Goldberg machines that uses dominoes, and balloons, and baskets and stuff: All just to break an egg. That's Obamacare. It's complicated and expensive.”
Her, “But why would they want that?”
Me, “Because they want be in charge of breaking the eggs. If they make it impossible to break your own eggs and they control the only egg breaking machine; then you have to come to them whenever you want breakfast”
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