This afternoon, the cat and dog and I went to get some vaccinations for them. The vet would not give them rabies shots without a full checkup, with an estimated cost of $200. I had pushed back, because both animals had already had checkups this year, but he was adamant. Now, some of you may have noticed that I tend toward the frugal side. I was unwilling to pay for superfluous checkups; I knew they were healthy, and the Humane Society in Miami, where we used to go, would give vaccinations without checkups.
The alternative was to utilize the low cost vaccination clinic run by the SPCA, open once a month for two hours on the first Sunday on my month. I put the date on my calendar, packed up the animals, and drove 30 minutes. We all patiently stood in line in a cold parking lot for with a hundred other people with dogs for 90 minutes to get the shots. It was a total cost of $30. (I should note that some of us were more patient than others. Phi the cat is 17 years old, she firmly believes that she is too old for this nonsense, and she let me know.) Once we got home, all of us laid down in the living room for an hour to recover.
I had time during those 90 minutes to think about how easy money makes life. I'm lucky - I have the money to pay for lots of things, so with something like this, I know that I have a choice. If I decided I didn't want to wait for almost two hours in the cold, I could just pay. Most of the people there probably didn't have the means to pay for a regular vet.
I lead a privileged life, even compared to many Americans. I have emergency funds to draw on. I have a family that would help me out if I needed it. I have an education that allows me to earn a good salary (something that many widows historically didn't have). I could go on listing all the privileges my society gives to me, but I'll just stop and say I'm grateful that I have security.
As an aside, I am also happy they make a three-year rabies vaccine and we don't have to do that again until 2019.
4 comments:
I was going argue about your use of the word privilege - as in my own mind it denotes something due to you rather than something you've worked for. However upon looking at the synonyms for the word which include "Advantage, Opportunity, and Freedom" among them, I'd have to agree, most of us born into this society and this time are very privileged indeed and should be very grateful for it. But I might add you also have done a lot of work to take advantage of your privilege.
Poor Phi! What nonsense. Did your vet
offer some justification for the exam?
It sounds like you were well-paid for that time, even counting the hour of recovery time.
this is why I don't have pets - it's got to be kids or pets , I don't have the stomach for both. In fact I think I'd have switched vets.
perhaps the vet was just trying to make a living - perhaps times are hard!
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