Everybody likes a debate!

Funny nursing school story:


We have to do these debates. School assignments like these are asking for it... If you can't tell, I'm a little opinionated. Maybe a little strong-headed... but just a little. Not much at all...nah. They divided us up in to groups and the first two groups delivered their debates yesterday. The rest of us were allowed to ask questions following and active participation was encouraged because these debates would be a part of our midterms and finals.


OK...


The first group presents the pros and cons of whether or not an alcoholic should be allowed a liver transplant. I take out my notebook, jot down the arguments as the list them, their reasonings and immediately on the side for allowing alcoholics to get a new liver, I see that they have a contradictory argument. So I form my question and wait patiently to ask it. When they conclude and open the floor, I raise my hand because I'm a good student like that and ask, "This question is for the pro side, you mentioned that most alcoholics who receive a new liver and commit to lifelong rehab and sobriety are said to be successful. The cons mentioned that 95% of alcoholics have at least one drink within the first year post surgery and your side also mentioned that alcoholism is a disease and stressed the importance of treatting that disease. Do you think that allowing an alcoholic to receive a liver is really treating the disease if 95% have a drink in the first year?"


Crickets and blank stares. I didn't think I was asking that hard of a question! But they couldn't answer it!


The next group comes to the front and presents the pro's and cons of increasing health insurance premiums for smokers and the obese. This should be good. Now granted, these are kids ten years younger than me so they have missed decades worth of news articles and debates I've already seen and heard on these subjects. Despite that, I forgot this myself and assumed to hear the same arguments when this issue came up in the early 2000s. I again pay attention, write down my thoughts and their points, form my question and tuck it aside and wait for my turn. This debate, I admit, got me more fired up than the prior. The side in favor of allowing insurance companies to raise premiums missed major points and had huge holes. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one with tough questions.


"You mentioned that insurance companies have a right to raise insurance premiums selectively because they are their own business. The United States constitution explicitely protects from discrimination such as this. By allowing these companies to selectively choose who has higher premiums, do you not find this unconstitutional? What about people who need the insurance to help them pay for medical problems with obesity as a side-effect? Or those on fixed-incomes who can't afford a healthier eating regime? Can you tell me how it is constitutional for an insurance company to pick and choose who is a higher risk?"


The group stood in silence with their mouths open, looked at each other for a second and then stared back at me. Finally, a one of the first girls to speak stuttered her original argument. So I asked again, "So you are saying that yes, it's constitutional for an insurance company to discriminate?"


"I don't understand those big words."


This is the future of America and somebody's future nurse --- not Mine!!


After the debates, I was flooded with people thanking me for not asking them a question and the rest of the nursing students asking me to be nice to them when it was time for their group to go...


Yup... leave it to me...