"My girlfriend recently dislocated and fractured her elbow. The ride in the ambulance alone was $1000."
I comment over at the Huffington Post because it's fun to pinch out a nice one-liner making fun of some Republican thug every now and then, or to just add a bit of information into an otherwise fact-free conversation.
I rarely have any trouble with the moderation there: I'm the type of person to say rather abstract and obscene things for the sake of adding some color into the otherwise graying, bland relic we call 'communication'. An 'Obama smoking blunts in the motorcade' here, a 'Romney actually a Mexican citizen hiding six other families' there, you know: internet commentary. The more ridiculous ones get deleted now and then. But today, just a few minutes ago, was different.
I was reading the comments in the article about Romney's recent PR disaster with the ER comment. One person had said something about going in for a stomach infection, never finding out what it was, and then getting a bill for $20k afterwards. To this, I replied that just a few days ago, my girlfriend dislocated and fractured her elbow after suffering a fall, and had to go to the ER. She doesn't have medical coverage. They loaded her up with drugs, popped the bitch (aka the elbow. I frequently use 'bitch' as just a general noun, kind of like 'Marklar') back into place, gave her a soft cast, a sling, and some Oxycodone, and sent her on her way. For which, I am grateful.
I don't remember the total cost, but she was told that the ambulance ride alone would cost around $1000. My girlfriend is 20 years old, goes to school full time and works two jobs while occasionally grabbing a temporary one on the side for some extra cash. Aside from car insurance, a cell phone bill, rent to her mom (which is bullshit in and of itself IMO, but that's another story), credit card payments and basic living expenses, she indulges in one hobby which is equestrian riding. She has her own horse, which was given to her as a gift. She pays for boarding at her uncle's farm and grain, as well as any gear or medical attention the animal may need. She's by no means rich or even well-off, and works for every dollar and everything she has.
My comment contained this information, that an ambulance ride was expensive to a young girl with no medical coverage, and nothing further. No declaration, no judgement, just pure, unadulterated, anecdotal experience. And I didn't even swear once! Yet, it was promptly removed by some faceless, anonymous scoundrel on some anti-truth crusade, apparently scouring the internet for accurate information so as to hastily erode and obfuscate any evidence of it's presence.
I honestly don't know why I'm writing this diary. I tried to share a factual occurrence from my life, involving someone I care about, and while a news website isn't the best place for that, I posted it with the intention that someone may associate with it, feel concerned, comforted, or inspired by it, and perhaps gain new insight.
Stories and concerns about our survival shouldn't and can't be swept aside by some nameless stooge attempting to gain political points or influence the balance of 'fairness' in order to score a few extra clicks from that hard to reach demographic.
I care about my girlfriend. And I care about people like her: people who work balls-hard for the basic things they need to afford in order to survive and, god forbid, just maybe garnish a bit of enjoyment out of that survival. I'm not going to let some dick silence my concern.
Fuckin internet.