The Similkameen News Leader
Editorial
August 19, 2008
I'M DUE FOR A REBATE
While waiting for coffee to brew one morning I thought about a conversation I had earlier in the week.
I was talking to a client/friend in Cawston and when he asked how things were I told him the truth, which included the fact that both Brenda and I have family members who are or have been hospitalized and recovering from ailments.
He went on to tell me about at least one family death and a variety of health issues floating around in his family tree.
Then I mentioned that I rarely get sick. Maybe the sniffles every now and then and the odd headache but I honestly can't remember the last time I stayed home from work because I was sick.
He shared the same information with me about his health.
I made a joke about both of us being too busy or working too hard to get sick. We laughed, then moved on to business.
I hadn't thought about the conversation again until days later waiting for the coffee machine to catch up to my need for caffeine.
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me that I am probably due for a rebate of some kind for not feeding off the health care system due to my amazingly healthy body.
Sure, I'm easily 15 (or more) pounds heavier than I wish I was, and I don't always eat the healthiest food I can, nor do I exercise like I used to, but I don't get sick that often and that's got to be worth something.
Another conversation during the week revolved around healthy eating and my observation that all the food that's good for you costs the most. And I'm not just talking locally. Go to any
'healthy' place in the Okanagan and discover the real cost of eating healthy. No wonder most of us have cravings for the bad stuff - it's often all we can afford.
So there's my idea for a rebate.
I think instead of carbon tax rebates and GST rebates, those of us who don't get sick enough to access the health care system should receive a hefty rebate for use on healthy products.
It might be enough to make me consider buying the 12-dollar loaf of specialty bread made with chemical-free, organically-grown, hand picked in fair trade ya-ya beans in one of those fancy big city
'healthy' stores instead of the $1.99 60% brown I normally buy.
I think there's a really strong argument here in promoting healthy lifestyles and eating habits by getting into our wallets and rewarding those of us who don't suck the life out of the health care system with our sniffles and headaches buy feeding us a little green so we can get a little greener at the kitchen table.
There's nothing wrong with existing healthy eating programs as they are a step in the right direction, only I think the driver of that bus should be someone other than locals.
By rewarding us for being healthy by keeping us healthy will benefit our society as a whole. And give the odd doctor a day off.
