arteejee

A site of satirical musings, commentary and/or rhetorical criticism of the world at large.

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Location: Southeastern, Pennsylvania, United States

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Sunday Morning Post: (V.1, #14) - Thirty Years On


This will be a short one today, as there is a brunch to attend.  This month marks the 30th anniversary of when I started working in some semblance of the health care insurance industry. 
 
I was living with friends in Maryland and temping for National Automatic Sprinkler Industry Welfare Fund when there was an opening in their claims department.  At that time, the Fund processed medical claims for their unionized work force.  I believe in the years since I left in 1999 that part has been outsourced to Blue Cross.

Warrior Queen and I longed to return to the Philly area and we got word that Union Labor Life was starting a new office in King of Prussia.  Here I started out as a claims processor and moved on to quality assurance.  ULLICO later had some difficulties and they sold our operations to a company I won’t name, in the spirit of “If you can’t say anything nice...”

I have been at Health Advocate since 2011 and believe this was where I was always meant to be.  I had medical claims experience and always questioned why the insurance industry behaves the way it does.  Why does it cover so and so, but not such and such?   For years I felt like I was on a Don Quixotic quest to find common sense in the health insurance industry.
 
It took years of searching, but I finally arrived at the conclusion that there is no common sense to be found in the health insurance industry.   We’re all on our own.

Well, I’m glad I got that off my chest…

I insisted on celebrating the anniversary with a nice buffet brunch at The William Penn Inn, which is just up the street (a few miles give or take) from our house.

It is the most chi-chi place we go to for special occasions and this, I believe, is one of those occasions.   So…brunch, anyone? *

*Sorry, but we’ll have to do separate checks.

(Thank you for reading.  On to brunch!)

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Sunday Morning Post (V.1, #13) - Brianism


I am of a split mood today for what is regarded as the most religious holiday on the Christian calendar:  Easter.  Let me express the joyful side first as I wish all true believers a Happy Easter and Blessed Passover.


I would classify my beliefs as those belonging to a disgruntled Christian.  I believe in the basic philosophy of Christ’s teachings of tolerance for all and extending help to those less fortunate.  Unfortunately, the way Christianity is widely practiced in America these days by the so-called Evangelical Christians falls far short of these ideals.  This group has thrown its lot with a leader who wants to do such un-Christian-like acts as building walls and denying aid to those in true need.


Sad, very, very sad.


This is why I am more comfortable throwing my lot with Brianism.  This extremely small sub-set of religious teaching shares a few traits with Christianity.  Basically, both teach that life is brutal, is over before we know it, and we should enjoy it while we can.  Unlike Christianity, Brianism doesn’t wallow in somber music which is meant to lift up our spirits.  Instead, Brianism lifts our spirits with a tune that inspires us to whistle along.


In case you don’t know where this is heading, see below:





All together now...!


(Thank you for reading.  There, see, it’s the end of the blog...)

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Sunday Morning Post (V.1; #12) - Stupid Male Tricks*


Let’s explore a story written up in the local press this past week.  It seems there was this guy who engaged in a ménage-a-trois with his girlfriend and another woman.  When it was over, the man sent his girlfriend home in a taxi. The girlfriend, clearly feeling incensed, set fire to her boyfriend’s house, displacing him, a number of residents at a nearby apartment building, and, presumably, the other woman.

Ultimately, we should consider if the girlfriend over-reacted to what was, arguably, a short-sighted gesture on her boyfriend’s part.   First, we should consider the various facets of the story.  Admittedly, we don’t have much to go on.

The story only detailed that the woman set fire to her beau’s house after they had consensual sex with another woman.  It further explained that the girlfriend said "’she was going through a lot’ and was angry that her boyfriend had her take a cab home while the other woman remained in the home.”

This is all we know.  We don’t know if the three met through social media or the old-fashioned way at a bar.  If at a bar, then was alcohol consumed before a proposal was made to go back to the house, and was more alcohol consumed during the encounter. Also, did the boyfriend not pay or even offer to pay for the taxi? That would have been cold to send someone with whom you have an investment in intimacy home without the proper fare.  Even colder still: telling your girlfriend to find her own way home and not bother to call for a ride at all.

The girlfriend admitted to having some issues.  We don’t know if these issues have been going on for a while and this incident just pushed her over the edge or if she was totally caught off guard by her boyfriend’s request to hit the road.  In any event we feel compelled to tell this woman, “You got issues?  Get in line! Take a number!”   We’ve all got issues.

Then there’s the boyfriend.  Clearly, he did violate the protocol of being a good boyfriend: sending the long-term girlfriend home and allowing the new arrival in his life to stay for only he knows what.  Okay, we do know what we believe what the boyfriend was planning to do once his girlfriend left, but admittedly this is pure speculation on our part.  In the court of public opinion this can be known as the “Wink, wink, nudge, nudge” defense.

We can only theorize that the boyfriend at this point of the evening, regardless of how many Bud Lites he had consumed, came down with sudden attack of, oh, what’s the French term for it…oh, yes, “dick for brains.”  This is that too common condition when the male brain is dislodged from its honored place in the skull and somehow relocates in the genital area of the body.   Let’s be honest, guys, we’ve all had this condition at one time or another.

Which brings us to the third component of this incident:  the other woman.  As dear old Dad might have said, “It takes two to tangle, but three to make hot whoopee.”  Just for the record my Dad never said this; I was paraphrasing.

Anyway, we don’t know what the other woman was thinking when the intimate encounter happened and she was allowed to stay while the girlfriend was sent packing. What did the boyfriend tell her?  “Oh, my girlfriend is tired.  She’s going home, but you can stay here for the night”, or some story to that effect.  Did she not realize or care that a fellow member of the sisterhood was being inconvenienced?   Did she not become concerned for the girlfriend’s welfare, or am I over-estimating the bonds which bind the sisterhood?  Or was she too drunk to care?

In any event, I can only guess that she could have figured it all out once she smelled smoke before she and the boyfriend had to skedaddle out of a home burning down around them. 
A burning house. Now there’s a metaphor laden with double entendres.  Kind of like the current American debate over immigration…

*************************

A special shout-out today for making two new friends yesterday: Mistress Maddie and Mike. I had a wonderful time and no taxis had to be called.  We must get together again soon.

*Or “What Did I Do to Piss You Off This Time, Baaaaaaay-bee?”

(Thank you for reading.  With apologies to The Blues Brothers.)