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Battening down for Earl, which in my case mostly means finding something appropriate to read: should I go with something creepy or something seaworthy? I'm still on something of a piratical kick of late, although most things seem kind of boring after the Henry Morgan biography _Empire of Blue Water_ and Chris Moore's book _Island of the Sequined Love Nun_, but _And a Bottle of Rum_, the cultural history of rum which I am currently reading, does a pretty good job. I will try to post a piratical overview soonish, since Talk Like a Pirate Day is coming up in a couple of weeks and some folks might be wanting to do a little research.
Sep. 3rd, 2010
Those of you who know me in meatspace have probably heard me discuss the concept of helping, but I just thought I would revisit it briefly because I just moments ago experienced an incident of someone adding aggravation to my life due to his helping.
I was calling in a prescription refill, specifically, my birth control pills, which I have been taking on a three week cycle instead of the normal four, because skipping the fourth week significantly reduces the week of migraines I was getting during menstruation. The pharmacist I had today insisted that I was taking the pills incorrectly and, after my explanation, then insisted that the pharmacy quote could not unquote fill the prescription and I would have to get the doctor to make out a new one.
Now, obviously the pharmacy has been filling this prescription just fine for months now, so the quote could not unquote was suspect. I expect what he meant was the insurance company would not pay for it, which I knew already and have usually just said, fine, I'll pay for it as it is not a horrifically expensive prescription, but the pharmacist would not let me get a word in, until finally I got, shall we say, more emphatic.
So, to review:
1. Help should be treated like any other four-letter word referring to a shared behavior, namely, it should be safe, sane, and consentual.
2. In offering information or explanations, try to use the correct words to reflect what you actually mean. In my experience, the phrase "cannot" is frequently used incorrectly by people who are not in full possession of actual facts. Maybe it's a geek thing, but when people tell me "can't" I usually immediately question the statement, as what most people seem to actually mean is "I don't know."
I was calling in a prescription refill, specifically, my birth control pills, which I have been taking on a three week cycle instead of the normal four, because skipping the fourth week significantly reduces the week of migraines I was getting during menstruation. The pharmacist I had today insisted that I was taking the pills incorrectly and, after my explanation, then insisted that the pharmacy quote could not unquote fill the prescription and I would have to get the doctor to make out a new one.
Now, obviously the pharmacy has been filling this prescription just fine for months now, so the quote could not unquote was suspect. I expect what he meant was the insurance company would not pay for it, which I knew already and have usually just said, fine, I'll pay for it as it is not a horrifically expensive prescription, but the pharmacist would not let me get a word in, until finally I got, shall we say, more emphatic.
So, to review:
1. Help should be treated like any other four-letter word referring to a shared behavior, namely, it should be safe, sane, and consentual.
2. In offering information or explanations, try to use the correct words to reflect what you actually mean. In my experience, the phrase "cannot" is frequently used incorrectly by people who are not in full possession of actual facts. Maybe it's a geek thing, but when people tell me "can't" I usually immediately question the statement, as what most people seem to actually mean is "I don't know."