Just Say No

Do you remember Nancy Reagan's attempt to stem the use of drugs in this country?





I'm not sure it won the drug war, even though it was aimed at those who weren't yet grippd by chemical addiction. Personal responsibility, as a rule, isn't a popular rallying cry -- even when it is the correct rallying cry. But that's a different post for a different day.

I was having a telephone conversation with someone this weekend, and it went something like this:

Ed: Hey, Linda and I were thinking of taking you to XXXXXX and wanted to know if you'd like to go.
Person: No! No. I can't do that. Are you crazy? (exasperated...) Ed, I haven't finished packing yet and need to carry the suitcase downstairs. My knee is bothering me, every once in a while when I walk on it it feels a little funny and I'm not sure how I am going to be able to get around while on vacation. I think if I just sit most of the time it will be fine, because I don't want to go anywhere anyway, except maybe getting a little sun. I've been walking around. I'm tired. I've been going all day long. I haven't eaten much today, and sometimes when I feel bad I think that it's because I don't eat or drink enough. There is so much going on today we can't possibly do that too.

More than words, which pretty accurately recollect that portion of the conversation, was the sense of absolute incredulity with which they were spoken. It was as if I had walked into the ICU at John's Hopkins, grabbed hold of the nearest arm-leg-face-ectomy patient I could find, 4 minutes post-op, and asked them if they wanted to go out for a night of dancing. Are you crazy?

For this person, and all such people (including myself, because I do it too), I have a lasting piece of advice:



Of course, then they have to deal with the inevitable...

"Why Not?"!