Bad Medicine

Exhausting travel and lab time associated with conferences this month coupled with extreme exposure to the mass public, have contributed to my catching a cold. As such, I am currently high on a Dayquil/Advil cocktail which is kicking my butt, but which allows me minimal function in my professional capacity. I discovered this particular blend back in 2000 during the beginning of the recession. I was working as a co-op in a company which I was hoping to get a job offer from. During a critical part of my project while traveling in Arkansas, I came down with walking pneumonia. Unable to take time off, I had to work through it. The most effective symptom stopping medley I found after raiding a local drug store and dropping a C note on OTC remedies was a Dayquil/Advil combo. With the right balance of the two, I could medicate myself to the point of passable productivity. Like any effective medical regimen, there were draw backs. These included a zombie-like disconnected personality, a slight balance problem, and mild impotence. All of which were acceptable costs in achieving the goal of full employment. I lived on this cocktail for one month before the roommates forced me to go to the clinic, for the "traditional" treatment of antibiotics. Within a month I had recovered, and was getting ready for my work review. During the review, it was communicated that my "easy going, creative" working style would fit well with the company and that they would be happy to hire me, but then emphasized that I would have to pass a drug test, so I would have to be careful. Now, I have never actually taken any illegal drugs, so that comment left me a little confused until I remembered stumbling around the office for a month high on OTCs. Now, I work in an environment mostly populated by individuals of Asian decent, and anytime I take an OTC of any kind I get an earful. Western medicine only treats the symptoms not the underlying problem. You contain too much heat, drink this tea to balance it. Take that tea/herb to balance some other spiritual imbalance indicated by the shape of my eye. But as soon as they cough, their hypocrisy is revealed as they run off to the hospital as if they just got SARS. If you hate western medicine stop going to the damn emergency room each time you have a simple cold and leave me alone in my pharma-coma.