Thursday, May 17, 2007

Living Life


In my post about Mormons I got a lot of comments about my emphasizing that they don't drink coffee or alcohol, don't smoke, etc.

Most of the commentors pointed out what a good and healthy thing that was.

It reminded me of this conversation that a friend of mine recently shared with me:

"I recently turned 65 and had to choose a new primary care physician for my Medicare program.

After two visits and exhaustive lab tests, he said I was doing "fairly well" for my age.

A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, "Do you think I will live to be 80?"

He asked: Do you smoke tobacco or drink alcoholic beverages?"

"Oh no," I replied. "I don't do drugs, either."

"Do you have many friends and entertain frequently?"

"I said, "No, I usually stay home and keep to myself".

"Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?"

I said, "No, my other doctor said that all red meat is unhealthy!"

"Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?"

"No, I don't," I said.

"Do you gamble, drive fast cars, or have a lot of sex?"

"No," I said. "I don't do any of those things."

He looked at me and said, "Then why the fuck do you care?"

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful....

Satyavati devi dasi said...

Having already got first-hand experience of what alcohol, tobacco, drugs and a basic 'I don't give a shit' lifestyle can do for you...

I'm pretty glad I don't do that stuff anymore.

I mean, I have only isolated memories from 1987-1990. I mean, think about that.

Sure, lots of people say, oh, well, you don't know how to handle it, you're an addict for christmas sake, you're not like normal people who can just do this and have a good time at it.

I don't know. Ever see Bill Cosby talk about people going out, getting drunk, having a good time?

Everybody's got their reasons for the things that they do, and I'm not here to tell anyone they can't do what they do. But I can tell you that it sure is nice to remember my wedding and to not have been so drunk that I passed out for my wedding night. For that matter, it sure is nice to have lived to see it (and so far, beyond).

And I don't believe for one second that a doctor actually said that shit.

So there.

Anonymous said...

Satyavati might want to look into acquiring a sense of humor. Those things come in handy.

Anonymous said...

Fuck that.

I eat red meat twice a day, smoke like a chimney, and booze as often as an unemployed loser with no friends can. I've never been more happy.