But no – they started to irritate the life out of us and also the other English couple on the table with their anti-Obama, anti health care reform nonsense. The English might whinge about the NHS but we all know that in a crisis it’s unbeatable, so having it implied that having a National Health Service made us Commies didn’t go down very well.

At 4am yesterday my elderly aunt fell over in her apartment, called the warden who called for an ambulance. Daphne was immediately taken to hospital to be checked over. At 7.30am the warden called me to tell me, and at 8am I called the hospital. Daphne had already been X-rayed, found to have a broken hip and had been scheduled for surgery. I was asked to call again at 10am.

When I called I was told that she’d been taken to theatre for a hip replacement and that I should call again at 2pm. When I next called she was back on the ward, conscious and in good spirits, and I went to see her at 3.30pm. She’d been operated on without general anaesthetic because their were concerns about how well she’d cope, and she was completely untroubled by the whole procedure.

So, she fell at 4am and within eight hours she had a new hip joint. Cost? Not one single penny, not for the operation, not for the after-care, not for the various bits of equipment that will now be installed in her apartment to help her get about and be safe there.

I’m a life-long atheist and it increasingly baffles me that the very people in the US who bang on intolerantly about their religion seem to be the same ones who want to take absolutely no interest in the health and welfare of their fellow citizens, of whatever age or means. Have these people never heard the parable of the Good Samaritan? Their position seems to me to be based entirely on personal greed, which I understood to be a Deadly Sin.

I wish Obama well in what seems this side of the Atlantic a reasonable, moderate and unremarkable programme, but it looks as if reactionary forces will block him long enough to kill his plans :o(

This, as with most everything, comes back to treating other people the way you would want to be treated. It’s that simple and that complicated.

So, again, thanks for sharing. I really do believe that little things like this post DO matter and can make a difference.

I will happily continue working. I will happily continue paying my taxes. I have seen “My government” in action way too many times. I earn a good living. I live in a nice house. I live in the outskirts of New Orleans, LA. I witnessed Katrina up close. I witnessed the Katrina nightmare. God help those who ever find themselves needing help from our leaders. I hope I can make it on my own with my own little boat. Those guys in Washington do not deserve my time …1

Also, speaking as the wife of a two-time cancer survivor: No one is immune. Much of American culture is an edifice to convince us otherwise. Nonetheless, no one is immune.