Uber Moments

It's not uncommon to have a medical professional in my car, especially going to/from the airport.  It is unusual to hear what I heard on this ride.  I picked up Bill from the airport, in from Salt Lake City, where it was apparently snowing.  We chatted about the weather here and his most recent trip to London before discussing what brought him.  You see, Bill was in "health care".  He worked for a hospital in Mexico and was here for a 4 day conference in Scottsdale. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, he dropped the grenade... "If there's one thing I've learned from all my years in the medical industry, it's this... don't get sick." BOOM! He went on to bemoan how our society takes their health and healthcare for granted. "People think they can live any way they want and modern medicine will just fix it if they get sick...especially cancer."  Having a family with a history of cancer, I steered the conversation down...

On any given night, it's not unusual to catch a ride out of the local strip clubs. In fact, if it's a slow night, this is a treasure trove of interesting people. On one such night, I picked up Matthew after closing time. The first thing I noticed about Matthew was his physical challenges.  A young man in his late 20s, he walked with a cane and without the full use of his arm. I didn't think any more of it and just focused on the helping him into the car...to the extent he wanted it.  I swiped the app to start the trip and saw that we were going to have some quality time in the car.  The story that came out was one for the ages, and yet, I was left with the strong sense that it was painfully common. Matthew is a US Army veteran, deployed to the Afghanistan Area of Operations (AO). Several years ago, a roadside IED destroyed his Humvee, flipping the vehicle, killing his infantry comrades, and leaving him with a traumatic brain injury (TBI).   Matthew was med-eva...