Things that upset me and should upset you
I’m upset about almost everything from dentists and eye doctors to the racist campaign to ban Christopher Columbus. Wake up people. Don’t let the crazies run the insane asylum. Here’s my latest column
By Ray Hanania
I hate eye doctors and I hate dentists. They advertise how inexpensive they are, but the truth is they charge whatever they want and are overpriced.
I went to one of those eye franchisers last year when I read they were offering eye exam discounts and “two for the price of one” glasses. The eye exam was cheap because it wasn’t complete. I had to pay even more.
After expensive the eye exam, they showed me the selection of two-for-one glasses, and they were garbage. “You want the good ones, you have to pay more.” In the end, it cost me, and the insurance company, $1,400 for two pair of glasses and the exam. I paid half out-of-pocket.
Then there are the dentists. They have this new thing called “implants” in which they remove your tooth or teeth and then replace it with an implant. Sounds like a great idea abut it costs a fortune. It seems like dentists are getting sloppy with the basic fillings and crowns and pushing everyone to to more expensive options that even the best insurance barely covers.
Even after your insurance coverage is complete, it will cost you $4,000 out of pocket for two implants. Fillings cost an arm and a leg, these days, too, and they are not done well at all.
I am going to gum my food from now on.
All the politicians were talking about cracking down on “price gouging” during the COVID pandemic, but the truth is we saw “creeping price gouging.” What that means is that they slowly raised the prices of everything. Go to the grocery store and everything costs twice as much.
A friend of mine owns a big business that just opened on Cicero Avenue. He advertised looking to hire 160 employees. He was shocked because he couldn’t fill all of his spots. He has more than 40 unfilled positions. Why? Because people coming in to apply for the jobs are realizing they get more money staying home by taking COVID handouts from the government through unemployment than they do by working.
Why should anyone go back to work when they can sit at home and get double pay while on unemployment?
Don’t believe all the propaganda out there. There are jobs but people don’t want them. It’s better to stay home and get less money than to work hard and earn more money.
While everyone else is screaming about how racist Christopher Columbus was and demanding that we stop celebrating Christopher Columbus Day in October as a holiday – its supposed to be Oct. 11, this year — I’m going to start celebrating Christopher Columbus not just for one day but for the entire month of October.
Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore has a good point when he complained recently that Native Americans need to own up to the problems they cause by refusing to acknowledge their role in Black slavery.
I’m not slamming Native Americans. I always supported the “Indians” over the “Cowboys,” and I agree that many Native American names taken by sports franchises for decades demeaned those images with ridiculous stereotypes. If you want to be called the Black Hawks, be respectful. If you want to be the Braves, be respectful.
But that doesn’t mean we should tear down Columbus statues. His explorations brought European civilization to the backcountry of America and helped to make this place a better country.
Native Americans deserve their rights, compensation for the horrors brought on by the American government, but so do Italian Americans. Let’s not close our eyes to history just because some celebrating more concerned about their race than Americanism doesn’t think he represents good. Columbus represents good and I am drawing a line in the sand on that issue.
Can someone please tell Oprah Winfrey to Shut Up? Her interview with “Prince” Harry and his wife Meghan Markle was an embarrassment. When I see Oprah, Harry or Merkle on TV, I order Siri to “change the channel.” What a bunch of whiners and fakes?
And seniors haven’t figured out that AARP (American Association of Retired People) is a scam, then you are more senile than I thought.
All that AARP does is take your money and then inundate you with sales pitches from their worthless advertisers.
And what idiot came up with the idea of Medicare? The system is nuts. Limited periods of signups. “Donut holes.” Paying extra to get coverage for some benefits but not others. When you convert from one plan to another you have to buy a supplemental Medigap Plan.
You think this confusion is accidental? They do it on purpose to push you to wits end and frustration surrender.
If you are a senior, no one really cares about you. They just want your money.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter and political columnist. This column was originally published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at rghanania@gmail.com.)
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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