Tonight as I was driving home from work or more appropriately as I was sitting at a stop light in the act of driving home I noticed something that saddened me a little. I happened to stopped in front of the Toys R Us parking lot. The thing that saddened as well as surprised was the fact the parking lot was completely empty. Not the way it should be at five in the afternoon on July first. Obviously they’ve locked the doors, and most like for good.

I couldn’t help but think back to the type of store Toys R Us was in my youth and what it represented. They wouldn’t even let you in the place unless you were accompanied by a parent. Surely not because you’d destroy anything  rather because its unlikely you would ever come back out.

If it had anything to do with fun, Toys R Us had it. They had what all the other retailers had in their toy departments, just that Toys R Us had so much more. An entire row of possibly every board game ever created, stocked  in alphabetical order. GI Joe for boys and Barbie for girls, chemistry and geology sets, bikes and scooters. My generation was allowed Darwin’s law to take its natural course so they had lawn darts, creepy crawler sets with real hot plates, and the slip and slide with exposed metal anchors along the side to hold it down. It was the true fantasy land with the dreams and the danger.

Even when I got older and had my own kids, Christmas shopping was a one stop event with Toys R Us, by then having added video games into the mix. In fact I bought my first computer as an adult at Toys R Us

It’s probably been four or five years since I have gone into the store. It had already become a shadow of its former self by then. Gone were the long rows stacked to the roof.

Really it doesn’t surprise me at all, the writing has been on the wall for quite some time. Not all that sad either, because I still hold onto those fun memories of what it once was. And those memories are awesome.

So the President wants to reform health care in the US and surprise surprise the insurance companies along with their right wing cohorts are going into overdrive with the old and worn scare tactics. You’ll have to long queues for care, you won’t be able to choose your own doctor, and the new one the private insurance industry will fall apart.

Could they be any more out of touch or is it the possibility of losing their gold lined pockets they are more concerned with? If you happen to live in the US and are fortune enough to have health coverage when was the last time you or a family member had a health issue and didn’t end up standing in line waiting for your name to be called or waiting in a hospital room all day long for a doctor to stop by for five minutes? Or waiting days, maybe even weeks stressing over some test results to come back?

I can’t recall anyone in recent years who needed some care and didn’t have some horror story to tell about it. But all of that is the easy part, the part most of truly live in fear of is the cost. Even those of us fortunate enough to have coverage are forced to live in a state of worry that an illness or injury could lead to financial ruin.

In our day to day lives, we go to the store and buy a loaf of bread, go shopping for a new car or home. We always know the price upfront, but what is the one thing you have no idea what its going to cost until you get the bill? Health care. Why is that? Why do we need to live in fear of getting sick? Far more people are worried about how they will pay for health care rather than choosing a doctor. Yet people keep falling for the same old worn out scare tactics. Are we going to be duped again or will we really see positive change this time around?