A Sign That Got Me Thinking

The sign.

I saw a sign today that amused me. On the top, it was either Japanese or Chinese. On the bottom in English, it said, “Please wait patiently for the failure of the system.” It was worth the initial chuckle until the existential dread of being a member of Generation X set in.

In some way, I think I’ve been waiting for the failure of the system for thirty or thirty-five years. At first, because as a teenager, anarchy seems fun. Now, as a fifty-one-year-old man, it hits different. That’s not to say that I don’t have a desire to see the world burn because I have a deep streak of gallows humor in me. But when you stop to think about it, the system is fucking disturbing.

All these Go Fund Me’s that we see for sick people and people down on their luck are just really micro MDA telethons and Live Aids. Live Aid was a crowning moment of my generation. We (allegedly) gave money to starving people in Africa. Today, I wonder why they’re still hungry and don’t have access to clean water and life-saving medicine. I wonder why the mRNA technology can’t be used to cure diseases that cost a LOT OF FUCKING MONEY to treat, like the neuromuscular diseases that the MDA supports, and something a little closer to home like diabetes.
I’m a Type 2 diabetic who doesn’t need insulin to survive, but my wife does. I have a job to have the insurance necessary not to bankrupt us buying insulin.