I ran a five mile race today with Mrs Happy, my first organized race. Lots of tough hills. But my effort is nothing compared to the old man running. The amazing part of this race was meeting old man running man himself: Mr Runner. Mr Runner is 91 years old. He ran his first marathon shortly after receiving his card to The Glory Land from the Medicare National Bank.
It was a great experience. Seeing hundreds of dedicated men and women doing their best to keep fit. I heard several discuss their late life initiation into the sport because "heart disease runs in my family". I heard several pick up the call "because I was turning 45 and I had to do something". I met several doctors, a surgeon a bunch of nurses and respiratory therapists from Happy's hospital. That always makes me smile. To see health care workers walking the walk. They are a true inspiration to their respective professions. But the old man running is nothing short of amazing.
When we know that 80% of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer can be prevented by healthy lifestyles, I for one feel honored to run with other Americans who understand the value of personal choice and responsibility. I can only hope that someday all these folks, me included, are given massive lifestyle discounts on their health insurance premiums, with a much larger portion of the cost being subsidized by the less inclined and more reclined general public. Old man running is a testament to the power of personal choice in life. Showing a dedication to healthy lifestyles should be rewarded. That is exactly what our health care finance system lacks. Pay for excellence, you get excellence. Pay for mediocrity, you get a race to the bottom mentality.As a country we seem to want social solidarity for health insurance. But we want nothing to do with lifestyle solidarity. We want to do as we please. But we want to offer no sacrifice for the common economic good. We choose to believe we are entitled to unlimited access to health insurance. Yet we demand that our individual freedoms not be compromised. We want our cake and we want to eat the Hell out of it too.
What we need is a nation of dedicated Mr Runners, a nation of old men running. Or else we need to stop pretending that we can pay for the ills of this nation on the backs of the rich and productive. I can only hope I have the courage to continue my journey into advanced age and never stop running, even at the ripe young age of 91. Old man running, you are an inspiration to the world.
