I was in Waltham last evening, which is a mostly working-class town just outside of Boston, to grab dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Masao’s, a small vegan place, on my way into Cambridge. As usual, I enjoyed the fresh kale, beans, rice, and tofu that Masao so carefully prepares.
But I also enjoyed watching the seven or eight other people there, of varying ages and races, quietly enjoying the healthy food, with some 1940s music playing softly in the background.
When I left to return to my car, I walked past a takeout pizza place, a greasy-spoon Chinese restaurant, and a bar advertising some fast-food type dishes, all of which seemed to be pretty much empty. Masao’s, with its healthy food and semblance of community, was the center of the action on this block in Waltham.
And I was struck by how my experience at Masao’s was an exception to how I tend to feel as I go about my life. More often than not, I feel somehow outside the sytems of consumption, medicine, and entertainment. When I’m in a regular grocery store, I quickly recognize that I wouldn’t want to consume probably 90% of what it offers. When I hear debates about making pharmaceutical drugs more affordable, I tune out, because I know that I would fight tooth and nail against taking any such drug on a regular basis, no matter what the price. When I occasionally turn on the television–the crime, medical, and reality shows feel totally alien. Most of professional sports has come to feel the same way. It’s the way many farmers are feeling about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)
I was reminded of my disconnect from so many of our systems while researching my article for BusinessWeek.com about the coming RFID chips for people, which is really about the creation of a new system I will most likely feel alienated form.
I hope I’m not sounding morose, because I’m not. It’s more regretful. I think Linda Diane Feldt’s comment on yesterday’s posting brought the feeling home. She is really talking about how discouraging it is to be shut out of our medical system, as millions of people are. As she and mac suggest, this new emerging chip-in-the-arm system has the potential for creating even more restrictive barriers to entry into that system, by enabling insurers to more quickly than ever spot, and eliminate from coverage, those individuals deemed "high risk."
I guess I should be feeling Jay Greenwald’s enthusiasm (from his comment on yesterday’s posting) about the opportunity for easing treatment of diabetics, but I’m not. VeriChip is just one of dozens of companies looking for new ways to profit from the diabetes epidemic in this country. I’d like to see a few companies figuring out healthy ways to head off much of the diabetes. But our health care system doesn’t offer the same incentives for doing that.
P.S. It appears the new typeface in yesterday’s entry was an aberration of some sort–caused by transferring copy from my word processing program, according to the blog company support people. So looks like I’m back to the old type, at least for the time being.
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