The Saddest Thing

According to one Internet source, Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War documentary reached some 34 million viewers. That’s about 10% of the U.S. population.

It took me several months to slog through the many hours of misery contained in the 10 episodes, but I can now count myself as one of the 34 million viewers.

I think I can guess who most of the viewers were: People like me who were directly affected in one way or another. Median age of the viewers had to be >60. 

An excerpt from The New York Times’ review: 

The saddest thing about this elegiac documentary may be the credit it extends its audience. “The Vietnam War” still holds out hope that we might learn from history, after presenting 18 hours of evidence to the contrary.

I see no evidence that the present or future leaders of this country learned one goddamned thing from all the boneheaded blunders made by leaders past. Credit the NY Times for sifting through all the myriad, deep, and enduring sadnesses to name the worst.

If You Google "futility,"...

When my brother Charles ruptured his left quad tendon in 2017, he went to Christian Hospital for out-patient surgery. But then he had an infection in his leg and needed additional surgery as an in-patient. He spent several days in Room 1021, Bed 2, the one closest to the 10^th-floor window.

When Charles had a stroke on April 4, 2018, he landed in Christian Hospital again – Room 1021, Bed 2.

It seemed to me a freak coincidence that he would be in the same room again, and I poked around the Internet to gain some perspective on Christian Hospital. Turns out they have 220 “attended beds,” so it’s a little weird, but the 10^thfloor is neurology, so maybe it’s not quite so weird. Other than the fact that his 2017 stay didn’t seem to have much relation to neurology.

But the Internet dragged me much further into its web. Christian Hospital is part of BJC HealthCare, a “non-profit” group of 15 hospitals and “multiple community health locations.” With over 31,000 employees, they claim to be “one of the largest nonprofit health care organizations in the United States.”

So I Googled “biggest non-profit healthcare groups in USA.” I looked at a list of the top 32 non-profits and did not find BJC HealthCare on the list – although, at #32, East Texas Medical Center Regional Healthcare System (Tyler) has only 7 hospitals.

At #1 in the list, I found Ascension Health, another St. Louis-based hospital group, with an astounding 76 hospitals. Ascension’s website provided precious little information about revenues, and a plethora of info about all the good this Catholic organization does for the world.

Speaking of revenue, BJC HealthCare’s “net revenue” is listed at $4.8 Billion. When I Googled “net revenue,” I found that it means “gross sales minus the cost of sales, including cost of goods sold.”

Christ. I’m sorry I asked. What I was trying to find was how much profit BJC makes – but of course they don’t make a profit, because, by definition, they are a non-profit organization.

Conclusion: Stay the hell away from Google. You will only be confused in the end.