Signs

So while we were out of town, we got to talking about signs. It started with a sign that implores people not to litter (find me someone who doesn't know this is considered a crime, even if they do it anyway), but then went into completely pointless signs. At least, they're pointless from my perspective.

The Queen's personal favorite is the public library sign. Sure, you want to know where the library is, but public is a wasted word when you think about it. Would you have a sign directing you to a private library? Even if you're going into someone's private collection, that would be something they'd chosen to make public, but any time you see this library sign, it is for a government-owned, public library.

One I noticed sometime ago as being a complete waste of money (though I know these things are out there for a reason) was in Kansas. Now, if you know anything about driving rules, you might know that the lines on the road mean something. Solid line means do not pass while a dashed line means it is ok to pass. Kansans apparently have some difficulty with this concept since they labeled every single one of these line changes with a corresponding sign. "Do Not Pass" for the dashed lines and "Pass With Care" for the dashed ones. Every. Single. One.

Traffic lights have a couple that I've seen most of my life, so apparently, Oklahomans have issues with figuring out traffic light meanings. Most left turn signals say "Left Turn Yield on Green." This fact is very easy to figure out when there is traffic coming from the opposite direction. Some lights only have a green arrow without that yield on green option, so they helpfully label it as "Left Turn on Green Arrow Only." You know, even though there is no other option there other than the green arrow besides the red and yellow lights, so it's not hard to screw that up. Someone must have, though, or it wouldn't be there. The final traffic light, and apparently left turn signal specific, sign is the one that says "Left Turn Signal" right up there next to the ... wait for it ... left turn signal. Didn't see that one coming, did you?

Of course, you have the myriad of construction signs that don't provide any useful information such as "Yield to Flagman." This would be as opposed to running him over entirely, I suppose, as if the dearth of orange signs and such didn't clue you in to something going on. I'm from Oklahoma where the orange construction cone is our state tree. There's the classic "Men At Work," with the unspoken and chuckled acknowledgement that this clearly won't apply to everyone out there since every site will have at least half a dozen standing around. Naturally, there won't be women out there cause they're too smart to get mixed up in that sort of job.

One of my favorites is the classic "No Trespassing." Yeah, that's not a street sign, but it's got to be one of the most pointless and most ignored signs that has ever been created. First of all, from a courtesy standpoint, property belongs to someone, and these signs are usually accompanied by nasty fences and such, so the act of putting up what amounts to a wall is already telling someone to "Keep Out" (which is another popular and equally pointless sign). If someone wants to cross the line, they'll do it whether you have a sign there or not. Your sign only wastes your money and validates your need for control. Now, don't confuse this with a "Beware" sign of some kind, which I acknowledge to be valid since you don't want to break the law AND get hurt.

There are good signs out there. Actually most of them are fine. Occasionally, you just have to wonder about people since there apparently arose a need for some of these to come into existence. Like, what exactly happened to make this one a reality?

Again, this one should be obvious.

Silly ones like that aside, I will leave you with one that I acknowledge is a completely valid sign.

Medication Encouragement?

So while looking over the articles on the home page at work before I clicked off to look at something else, I caught a byline that said some program was essential to encourage patients to take their prescribed medications. It also had the title of "Putting the E in Adherence," but I just figured the editor was high when he allowed that to pass. I had to go ahead and click on it since I figured the main reason people would take their medicine was to get better. Why else would they have gone to the doctor to begin with? A friendly chat?

Apparently, somewhere along the line, someone decided that the pharmacist is accountable for what the medication is supposed to accomplish, so the electronic health records are supposed to do something to help pharmacists and doctors make sure people take their medicine. This electronic reporting is nothing new or mysterious, but it remains a fact that you can't force someone to do anything they don't want to do. If the person wants to take their medicine, they will. If they want to give the doctor the finger and move along, they also will.

The whole thing reminds me the seat belt law. We feel the need to legislate everything, including safety. People get hurt in car accidents because they don't wear their seat belts, so the government passes a law to require seat belt usage. People get killed by maniacs with guns, so townships pass law to prevent people from carrying...wait, the towns that got shot up already had anti-carry laws. Well, I'm sure they passed another law just for good measure. That'll show 'em.

So someone somewhere figured out that people were failing to take their medicine for economic, therapeutic, disease, or social related reason, and so they made something up for medical type people to track this and make sure people did it. Wonder how that's gonna work out for them. I don't want to spoil the ending, but I don't see it going the way they want. And if you consider the reasoning they "uncovered," let's just examine those reasons.

Economic: So you're telling us that they don't take their medicine, not because they don't want to, but because they can't afford to buy it. I guess your tracking will reveal that single mom of three with the two jobs just doesn't want to buy the $500 medicine then? Good luck encouraging her.

Therapeutic: I decided to look up this definition to make sure that I hadn't mis-remembered what it means, but no, it means health or healing. I'm trying to comprehend this as a reason not to take something. Maybe they won't take it because they feel like they are healthier without it? I had a medicine like that once. When I was taking it regularly, I felt loopy, had super lucid dreams, and couldn't stay awake. Seriously slept for 2 days on it. I stopped and felt 100% better. Seems like a solid reason to not take it.

Disease: If someone has a disease that is actively preventing them from taking a medication, you really should have prescribed something better catered to their situation. Who compiled this list?

Social: Well, if you're dealing with a social reason to not take a medicine, no amount of "encouragement" is going to fix that. That is a person who feels some kind of shame for what's going on, and you really should have taken that into account when you made the prescription. Maybe a little follow up will help that one.

In the end, you can't make someone do something they don't want to do. That's the bottom line. Perhaps following-up will give insight to their reasoning, and maybe you can assuage some of their fears or concerns, but to think this record thing will completely solve all of the problems with someone refusing to take their medicine is misguided at best.

Children Are Reflections

Whether you're a parent or not, you've seen children running about the landscape. These smaller versions of ourselves are not quite clones though they share genetic material with their parents, but what a lot of parents don't realize is that these little people are shameless reflections of their parents' lives. Kids do say the darnedest things...provided they heard it somewhere else first. Sure, sometimes children out think their parents and come up with ideas that their parents never dreamed of, but what I'm referring to are those awkward moments where junior does something, and mom's face turns a bright, brilliant shade of red.

What inspired this particular writing was a post someone popped on Facebook where they had communicated the movie title of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to their three year old. Now, the word "chitty" would be unfamiliar to anyone who has never heard of this movie or the Ian Fleming novel that inspired it. They're both kind of a head trip, and the film even includes a child molester, though there are no explicit references to this character being one, but I digress. This child responded to the title by repeating it using the best language he could match up to what he just heard: Really Sh*tty Bang Bang. Naturally, a good laugh was had by all.

What this person doesn't realize is that the one post communicates to the entire world exactly the type of language they tend to use around their child. After all, to come up with that, he would have had to have heard the words before, if not that two word phrase proceeding the Bang Bang.

If you watch children as they go about their world, you'll find all kinds of interesting facts about their parents that mom and dad never wanted out there. This is beyond just the words they use on an every day basis that they'd rather you not know about. Kids have really big mouths, and they'll tell anyone anywhere everything about everything they know if someone is willing to listen. If there are any secrets that you don't want divulged, you'd best not discuss it around the little ones.

How about that temper? Guess who will be the first to show the world how you react to stress? Give that little tyke something to frustrate him, and he'll demonstrate how well he's learned to deal with frustration by watching you. In fact, your kids want to be just like you. You are the template for their lives, and they see you as their model for how to live their lives. If you've ever wanted someone to idolize you and your every move, have children; they do this automatically...whether you like it or not.

Now, of course, children aren't mean or try to embarrass you on purpose. They don't learn that until later. In reality, they only want to make mom and dad happy with them. I recall getting onto one of mine for taking off across a parking lot once. She wasn't trying to be bad or run off. She saw the basket corral and wanted to help by getting a basket. I had to explain that as sweet as that was, she can't just take off running across a parking lot because it's dangerous.

Anyway, the point is that having children basically opens your house to everyone in the world who interacts with your kids. At some point they'll go to school, and since the school age is dropping to four (the Queen teaches four year olds in a public school now), that means their mouth control with strangers (and teachers who they also trust and idolize) is going to be that much less.

Sit back and think about everything you've ever done and said in front of your child. Now, realize that your little angel is going to tell every single person they come into contact with all of that variously at one time or another during their first few years in school before they've learned that they really shouldn't. Their teachers will get to know every sordid detail as the child just babbles on about your insecurities, embarrassments, description of what you look like naked if they've ever caught you with your pants down, problems, triumphs, imperfections, and every word your mouth has ever uttered in their presence. Oh yes, and if you have any foul opinions of the school or their teachers, take care not to say any of that in front of the children because their teachers will find that out too.

Let's face it. Kids are the spies the government has been dreaming of. Sleep tight.