Whenever I have a conversation with a Christian and I point out some weird passage in the Bible, the reply is always, “God’s ways are ineffible, we cannot understand him”. And then in the next sentence, it’s “this is what God thinks.”
Okay, so you can’t understand what he thinks, but, on the other hand, you know what he thinks. Okay…..
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And that word is “idiopathic”. It’s doctor-speak for “we don’t know why it happened”.
I learned it from my vet. On Monday morning, my pup collapsed. Her eyes were open, but she was completely non-responsive. I scooped her up, grabbed my keys, and rushed to the vet. Wet hair, half-dressed, no purse (thus no Driver’s license or credit cards), but I didn’t care. Even though they don’t take appointments until after lunch, they immediately brought her in.
I stepped outside to call my boss to tell her I wasn’t coming in (I vaguely remember trying to get out what I wanted to say between the sobs). When I came back, the pup was acting like normal – wagging her tail as if nothing had happened.
After enough tests to exhaust a significant chunk of my paycheck, they determined that she was the picture of health. Well, except for the collapse, which they told me was an “idiopathic” seizure. According to the vet, occasional seizures are not an uncommon condition for breeds like the pup.
As I sat there with the pup in my lap, I found my mind racing. I fell apart over a life-threatening situation with my dog. I want to have children someday – how in the world am I going to handle something happening to them if I can barely handle something happening to my pet?
To anyone who reads this blog…shout out where you’re from! We may be closer than you think. Duke Wankins, I’m talking to you too!
Stuck
Tags: comments
As users of WordPress know, when you make a blog, it automatically sets up an “About” page for you. So I put a throwaway line up there that very briefly describes my situation:
A commenter, Duke Wankins (and I hope for his sake that’s a pseudonym), takes issue with my statement:
Okay Duke, point made. I am not stuck here in the literal sense of the word. But the beauty of colloquial English is that certain words and phrases have shades of meaning that, while not adhering to the literal definition, allow one to convey certain information in a more economical way. So when I use the word “stuck”, most people can figure out that what I’m really trying to say is “due to a number of factors, it is in my best interest to remain in my present situation, even if it is not optimal”. That’s quite a mouthful, which is why it is often useful, especially in conversation, to just use the word “stuck” and be done with it. I have a feeling that even you, Duke, knew what I was trying to convey by using the word “stuck”.
And “stuck” is not the only phrase we use as a shorthand. Consider the phrase “have to”, as in “I have to go to work”, “I have to clean the house”, or “I have to do my homework”. Strictly speaking, nobody has to do any of these things. It’s just a way of saying “given the consequences, it is in my best interest to…”. So would you shun the phrase “have to” as well, as people generally do not use the phrase literally?
As for my opinions, I generally keep them to myself in normal discourse, unless specifically asked about them. So, in a sense, I usually do “shut-up” about them. But this is my blog, and I use it as an outlet to talk about things that are on my mind without fear of reprisal. The only urge I feel is to get things off my chest, and this blog is an excellent venue to do so. I’m not foisting my opinions on those around me – blog readers are not a captive audience. They are free to click away if they’re not interested in what I have to say.
Have a happy Independence Day, and be sure to take some time to enjoy the fact that not only are you not truly “stuck”, you also live in a country with a wonderfully nuanced language.