Eating poo

OK, the title probably has you wondering what the hell this post is going to be about, but here goes - as the first day of  Fall descends on the deep South the rednecks begin scanning the roadside with their spotlights looking for future game; that is, deer. The mornings are a little cooler, but compared to my foray in Vermont, I'd have to describe them as mildly cool given that our Summer sees morning lows in the mid 80's and at least now we're making it into the 60's and 70's. The kind of sauna that doesn't require any specialized services. They call it Indian summer around here. Football, whether high school, college, or NFL, is the prevalent topic on the tongue of many. There has to be something entertaining to attune to other than wondering whether you're going to make enough to pay the mortgage, and while many appear to be "getting by," others are down right taking drastic measures to survive. For instance, there are more than a few scrap metal thieves searching properties in these rural counties looking for copper, aluminum, and whatever else they can turn in. There was an incident not far from where I lived where a homeowner shot a metal thief after he caught him brandishing a hatchet while cutting out copper. Allegedly, the thief came at him when he was discovered. Self defense...I hope. I've had a number of neighbors, impoverished people in their old beat up pickup trucks come by my house asking if I had any metal junk to get rid of. Any metal that I find clearing the property I put out on the curb for them to take as a consequence. I have a friend that works at a scrap metal processing center that reports being inundated with people bringing in old batteries, cans, metal pipes, copper wire, etc. Things like that tell me the local economy is echoing current and future troubles. But wait, there's more. I'm out on a car crash at the interstate waiting for the tow truck to show up when I overhear the deputies talking about a rash of air conditioners that have been stolen for scrap. Whole units ripped out of windows and even the big central units. My dogs have probably kept me from suffering the same fate.

If the thieves get past my beasties than I'll know for sure that our economy has deteriorated to the next level. It's not just the increase in scrap metal theft either, I'm noticing it at work too. I've seen young mothers, 8 months pregnant, being beaten by their husbands/boyfriends to the point of losing their babies. Why? Because of the emotional turmoil surrounding losing a job, a home, or a car...if you can believe it. Embarrassed desperation is expressed as they stare speechless into my transparent supply cabinets on the way to the ER. They just wish it to end. Most people have no idea what's going on out there because people are so private about it until they express it violently - sadly.  More people than ever are calling for psychiatric help too, whether it be depression or two in the morning panic attacks. As paramedics, we ask our pt's what medicines they're on and I regularly find anti-anxiety and antidepressant. I suppose that's keeping the pharmaceutical companies in business, that is, as long as the federal government continues to backstop Medicare and medicaid. There's no guarantee these social backstops will survive given the GOP cheering executions and promising healthcare elitism. The rolls of medicaid continue to grow until their political deficit cutting barbarism is full expressed, and I certainly do believe it's coming. That has to be one of those straws of violent protest ready to be broken.

I find these signs of social calamity on just about every emergency run I make. Last night was no different, except by which that social parabola is measured. Responding to a residence in an especially poor part of town that I find a young man crouched on the floor of his bedroom. Something wretched stifled the air as we came to care for this person. The man was nude, shaking, and covered in excrement. He turns to see who has come into his room while stuffing a turd into his mouth chewing it as if it was a babe ruth candy bar. My partner couldn't stomach the sight and was backed up behind the police. Trying not to let the profound grossness effect my care, I come to find that the man had just lost his job and this behavior was supposedly making him feel secure. I know it seems incredulous and extreme, surely the man is crazy, but if it isn't poo eating, it's people cutting their arms, beating their heads, to having someone pee on them.

People are scared, and looking for security where there is none. I guess we're all eating poo to some extent.