As usual, I had a little trouble sleeping last night, and when I got up I had a thought in mind that I’d like to share. Actually, it was a question I’d like an answer to.

Each month, as I shell out money for my health insurance I wonder what the hell am I paying for. I visit a medical professional once a year just so he can tell me that I need to take better care of myself. I let a young lady draw blood from me just so that she can pass along information to the aforementioned medical professional so that he’s got proof that I need to take care of myself. Year after year, he keeps telling me something I already know. I politely listen to him and then go home and continue to live the way I’ve been living for many years. It seems to have done me okay so far.

You know, I might take his advice if I had some sort of assurances that his advice would actually help me extend my years in the living world. But, as I bid farewell to the precious dollars I have to shell out for his valuable information I think about how many more years I might have to pay on that new house he just purchased, or is it a new car this year?

With our advanced medical industry in this country, in conjunction with the cost associated with it, you’d think we’d live longer, wouldn’t you? As I mentioned earlier I woke up with a question on my mind. That question is, how long is the life expectancy in this country compared to the rest of the world? So, I looked it up.

I’ve always heard the if you’re afraid of the answer, don’t ask the question. Well, I should have feared the answer. It’s not what you’d think it should be. Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been sold a used car by the slickest salesman around. Check out where the citizens of the United States stand in relation to the citizens of countries around the world. Don’t you think we’d be higher on the list? (I do not list all the countries of the world here, but I think you get the idea)

If that list confuses you, you can find the answer in another way, in a book, or like I did, on the internet (this is a great website to spend a few minutes in if you’re really interested: https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy). Or, just ask that health professional when you visit. You’re paying dearly for that valuable information he/she has. Make them share it with you. Something I’d like you to notice, though, is the countries that have a higher life expectancy than we do in the United States, and how far down the list this country is.

Now here’s the real question, what the hell am I paying for when I shell out money each month for the health insurance that I’ve been brainwashed into believing that I actually need? Isn’t it supposed to cover the cost of the medical professionals that are trying to convince me to take better care of myself so that I might live longer? If these medical professionals are as good as they claim to be, some of y’all are not taking their advice seriously.

Next year I’m going to listen to a doctor in Cuba, and the year after that a doctor in French Guiana, and the year after that a doctor in Slovenia. You see, I don’t want to get lesser advice from a lesser doctor so that I might live longer too soon. It might put my body into shock.

Once I satisfied my curiosity with life expectancy and realized that I’m not going to be here as long as I hoped, I turned my attention to other things. I looked up infant mortality to find out where the United States stands in relation to the other countries in the world. I wish I hadn’t.

Good night, Mrs. Jackson, wherever you are.