LETTERS: FARMER'S WIFE RESPONDS TO DOCTOR

To the editor:

This is in response to Dr. Kamath's letter. He chose his profession, so he should learn to roll with the punches. Free market is a joke. Just ask my husband. He's a farmer.He works 40-plus hours a week at a heating and air conditioning company so he can keep our "business" of farming above water. We depend on the weather and insect control and have problems with pink eye, birthing, weeds and, yes, the government, to name a few.

Yes, we have to wait for someone to tell us the weather is going to be good or to tell us the grain prices. Corn and wheat aren't even worth raising anymore. I don't even want to talk about pork prices. And a T-bone costs $5 or more -- not in my pocket, it doesn't. My husband has been driving a tractor for 30 years, and we have to deal with dangerous machinery, not to mention the livestock that attack you.

Yes, we do pay our bills on time. We do not live beyond our means. I want Dr. Kamath to know we do complain about our health insurance costing $65 a week through my husband's job, but I wouldn't want to be without it. Can you guess why?

Dr. Kamath's suggestion of more people taking better care of themselves is wonderful. But if more people do that, that would mean less patient care and possible higher prices.

What is wrong with reminding patients of scheduled appointments, especially our senior citizens? This idea is not only courteous, but it also helps keep missed appointments down.

No, I was not one of those people who complained about the surgical center. And I did work five years in a local hospital. So I do know something about health care. Yes, the sun will come up in the morning, and when Dr. Kamath eats breakfast and takes a shower and gets into his car to go to work, he should think of all the people who do not have all those luxuries.

On a lighter note, we recently purchased an Angus bull for breeding. My husband has said he has never owned a bull so friendly with the cows, if you know what I mean. Anyway, we did not know what to name him until recently. We call him Bill Clinton.

GAIL MEYER

Cape Girardeau