The equal rights of single people

[NotHardUp1]

Come on. They do it for a reason. The drugs are in your system and don't dissipate in a few hours.

But their incapacitating effects do. I've never had any issue coming out of anesthesia.

Then you could ask to be scheduled early and allowed to prove sobriety just like DUI people do. You could sit in a chair and wait for hours, just like you do when they keep you waiting to see the doc. At any rate, you should have the right to be accountable and waive liability, especially if you're not going to drive. I'm going home to an empty house, so I'm no safer with a driver than without.

 

[backagain]

But their incapacitating effects do. I've never had any issue coming out of anesthesia.

Then you could ask to be scheduled early and allowed to prove sobriety just like DUI people do. You could sit in a chair and wait for hours, just like you do when they keep you waiting to see the doc. At any rate, you should have the right to be accountable and waive liability, especially if you're not going to drive. I'm going home to an empty house, so I'm no safer with a driver than without.

But, when you are sedated, your thinking is off.

 

[NotHardUp1]

My thinking is always off.

 

[Peloso]

This is the same reason I haven't had a colonoscopy yet. Maybe we can escort each other home. Do they allow whacked out, crazed, delusional colonoscopy victims to be escorted home by other whacked out, crazed and delusional colonoscopy victims?

Better yet, we can save a buttload of cash (pun intended) and do each other's colonoscopy.

During my initial consultation, I had a hard time explaining that I had no one I could think of to take me home. All I got was a nonplussed look from the doctor, as if that was incomprehensible. "Fine. " I said. "I've got a flashlight and plenty of wire hangers at home. I'll perform the test myself."

 

[backagain]

This is the same reason I haven't had a colonoscopy yet. Maybe we can escort each other home. Do they allow whacked out, crazed, delusional colonoscopy victims to be escorted home by other whacked out, crazed and delusional colonoscopy victims?

Wow. Really?

 

[Araucaria]

There is another practice that I've seen in Florida that's discriminatory toward single people, I don't know if it happens elsewhere. It is a practice where admission is charged BY CAR. That is you're charged the same amount, say $10, whether you have one person or 6 people in the vehicle. There was a state park on the Gulf Coast that charged $4.50 admission to enter, and another $6 to ride a passenger ferry to an offshore island. Now I suppose they wanted me to round up several people, which was impossible because all the people I knew were not available, and it would be an undue burden to try to organize it. And I also encountered a holiday light display drive-through for charity that charged $9 per car. Same deal with this. I would either have to pay the full $9 if I wanted to see it, or I would have had to try to round up some friends to split the cost. But the thing is, those who have a gregarious tendency would have no problem rounding up a bunch of friends or acquaintances that would make them cheap outings for them.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Wow. Really?

Knowing older men for most of my life, I truly do believe stuff like this has impact. It's not just whining. Society's biases towards straights, and married straights, is a real form of discrimination. Single people are punished in small ways for not being the straight norm.

I also believe it affects men disproportionately due to the independence emphasized and culturally reinforced in men. Women are more interdependent as they age, men less.

 

[backagain]

Knowing older men for most of my life, I truly do believe stuff like this has impact. It's not just whining. Society's biases towards straights, and married straights, is a real form of discrimination. Single people are punished in small ways for not being the straight norm.

I also believe it affects men disproportionately due to the independence emphasized and culturally reinforced in men. Women are more interdependent as they age, men less.

Really. You guys are making a mountain out of a mole hill. You are bringing in straight now when the thread was about single people, good luck with straights, single people and the older men that you have known.

 

[Araucaria]

^I don't think it's necessarily just a minor issue. Certain practices by medical and government people can have negative real world consequences. If single men are not getting colonoscopy screenings because of inability to arrange transportation, that may be putting them at risk for cancer.

As an example of what can happen as a result of policies and procedures, officials looked at hurricane fatalities. It turned out that a lot of people were dying because they refused to evacuate due to civil defense policies that would not admit people with pets to hurricane shelters. People couldn't bear to leave their beloved pets behind, so they became victims. Admittedly this is a completely different situation in a different context, but I offer it to illustrate that certain practices and procedures may have unintended consequences.

 

[NotHardUp1]

But older men do that a lot.

And it applies to older straight men too, who wind up alone.

It matters if you have moved away from where your family is.

 

[Rickrock]

With colonoscopies there is also a slim chance that they could have cut you in the process and you could have internal bleeding. It is a very slim chance.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

They require your escort to be there when you check in and to stay while you are in the procedure, about three hours.

That's the difference: at my place, they do insist on talking to the person on the phone first but not on the person being there in the flesh.

It just occurs to me that the difference might be one of population density. Here no patient is going to be more than a 20-minute drive away, any farther and there will be someplace (probably several places) closer that a patient can go instead. (I'm definitely unusual in that my escort comes from Brooklyn and needs 45 minutes to an hour of travel time -- subway -- to get to the clinic.) I suppose that in Hunstville it would be common for patients to be driving in from rural areas an hour or more away, too long a trip for the office to call your escort after the procedure was done.

 

[LoveMyPeppermill]

I don't know if it happens elsewhere. It is a practice where admission is charged BY CAR.

I'd suppose that's because the constraint on the park's capacity is parking spots rather than enough space for people, as with drive-in movie theaters. That said, I've certainly been to similar places where everyone arrives by car but you're still charged admission per person rather than per vehicle.

 

[unloadonme]

Knowing older men for most of my life, I truly do believe stuff like this has impact. It's not just whining. Society's biases towards straights, and married straights, is a real form of discrimination. Single people are punished in small ways for not being the straight norm.

I also believe it affects men disproportionately due to the independence emphasized and culturally reinforced in men. Women are more interdependent as they age, men less.

You seem to be straying away from equal rights for single people to equal rights for elderly men. What you haven't mentioned is the right to ignore medical advice. As I said in an earlier post, if I was in this position, I'd probably get an Uber home regardless of whatever I was told about the need to be accompanied.

 

[bendted]

As I said in an earlier post, if I was in this position, I'd probably get an Uber home regardless of whatever I was told about the need to be accompanied.

You cannot just do your own thing and say, Fuck it, I'll take an Uber. They absolutely under no circumstance
would allow taking an Uber. I had to have my brother, who lives 120 miles away, drive me and even then they walked me to his car and confirmed who he was and made sure I didn't drive. I told them I was single, had no one to call, but they were adamant that I had to have a someone, who's not a stranger, to take me home.

 

[unloadonme]

You cannot just do your own thing and say, Fuck it, I'll take an Uber. They absolutely under no circumstance
would allow taking an Uber. I had to have my brother, who lives 120 miles away, drive me and even then they walked me to his car and confirmed who he was and made sure I didn't drive. I told them I was single, had no one to call, but they were adamant that I had to have a someone, who's not a stranger, to take me home.

That's exactly my point. You can! We all have the right to ignore medical advice. What are they going to do? Chain you to a bed until someone acceptable to the hospital turns up to collect you? I'd thank them very nicely for the treatment they'd given me, listen patiently to their advice and then get in the cab and go home. They'd be breaking so many laws if they tried to physically prevent that.

 

[NotHardUp1]

That's exactly my point. You can! We all have the right to ignore medical advice. What are they going to do? Chain you to a bed until someone acceptable to the hospital turns up to collect you? I'd thank them very nicely for the treatment they'd given me, listen patiently to their advice and then get in the cab and go home. They'd be breaking so many laws if they tried to physically prevent that.

They refuse to do the procedure if your escort is not there. It's pretty absolute. They ask to speak to your escort as you check in and as they take you after.

And I'd argue that the rule is not "medical advice," but litigation and liability avoidance. It's simpler to have an absolute rule than to figure out how to help the patient.

I do think this particular situation is more about the elderly, but I made the thread because there are other situations, like the tax code, that punish singles of any stripe.

 

[PalacePaul]

This is a real problem. At my age I'm already thinking what I'm gonna do when I'm old and alone and find myself in one of these situations.

Another example that may look insignificant. Today in church we had a prayer for young people. May them find their vocation in life, either in marriage, in priesthood or in religious life. In other words, if you're single you don't exist. God doesn't care about you.

 

[Alistair]

They refuse to do the procedure if your escort is not there. It's pretty absolute. They ask to speak to your escort as you check in and as they take you after.

And I'd argue that the rule is not "medical advice," but litigation and liability avoidance. It's simpler to have an absolute rule than to figure out how to help the patient.

I do think this particular situation is more about the elderly, but I made the thread because there are other situations, like the tax code, that punish singles of any stripe.

One thing that I don’t think is right is paying for something I don’t use. I pay a minimum use water bill. In other words I pay for water that I’m not using. Because I’m a single household I don’t use as much water as a family of 4. In fact I’ve never used enough water to get to the point where I have to pay extra. So even though that family of 4 might pay double what I’m paying, I’m actually subsidizing their water bill. I think my bill should be strictly based on the true amount I’m using.

 

[Peloso]

When I was managing a waitstaff I occasionally used to have to push some servers to acknowledge single diners faster when it was very busy. Less of a bill meant less of a tip, and it's less stressful to be stared down by a single person than a party of six. When I was serving myself, I liked getting singles because I feel a kinship with people who would come alone to eat in a restaurant.