What's in a name?

I have to disagree with Mr. Shakespeare. Parting has no part of sweet sorrow. There is nothing sweet about parting, if the people with whom you part are those you love.

Then there was the time I had to have blood drawn and as I was in the physician's office at the time, he delegated that job to his staff. Let it be known that everyone in that office was professional, trained, and able. But also consider that I am a lousy blood drawee, with veins that collapse whenever they even sense a needle a mile away. Both the Licensed Practical Nurse and the Registered Nurse poked and poked, but the result was a dry hole, both arms, not that they didn't diligently try. Too diligently. They wouldn't admit failure. Now that is an admirable quality in the case of courage, paying taxes, or going to the dentist for a root canal, but not if you are the drawee who started out squeamish in the first place. So I was sent to the hospital. As I was waiting to see who would come into that tiny room loaded with vials and mission statements, all of which I noted, read, and disbelieved, there entered this cute little hippy-type girl who bounced in and said "Hi! My name is Kizzy, and I'm here to draw your blood!" She seemed actually happy about the assignment. My thoughts were, "OH, S***! Now I have to deal with this little snippy kid and I am too young to die myself, I am one year away from Social Security". But the chair they put you in has an arm that keeps you in there, and as I said, it was a tiny room, she was between the door and me, and I was trapped. So I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth and tried to relax while she put the tourniquet on, and three seconds later, Kizzy said, "All Done!" and sure enough she had a syringe full of that dark red stuff and the ordeal was over and I hadn't felt a thing. From that time to this day, my motto is, Phlebotomists Rule, even if their name was Kizzy.

On the other hand, you can't argue with Gertrude Stein when she said, "A rose is a rose is a rose" now, can you?

There are times when politicians put "spin" on what was actually said, to explain what was actually meant, when the person actually meant what was actually said but it's too embarrassing to contemplate...

There are times when another, nicer, more socially acceptable word is used to dilute actions or feelings we'd prefer to not acknowledge, a euphemism, such as "cowardice" for "gutless". Most of the words our Saxon ancestors left us have been relegated into something prettier. It loses a little (sometimes a whole lot) in the translation, however.

And there are word phrases that lead you down a primrose path into thinking you have something valuable and you don't really, like "limited warranty".

The word "recovery" has been kicked around a lot lately. So far, the means of how we will deal with the consequences of the debt involved have not been disclosed. I haven't heard "raised taxes" or "inflation" to pay back the debt with cheaper dollars (too bad, Mr. China), yet, but I suspect we will before the next election.

I understand from TV this morning that "health care reform" has been changed to "health insurance reform" hoping to take the wind out of the sails of the protesters. I think we should be changing the name of "town hall meetings" to "hornet's nests". Why are living wills which have been around for over 20 years being called "death panels" when they can prevent a person's being comotose and tied up to feeding tubes as long as they draw breath artifically? Just get a copy of one and read it and decide for yourself. Have you lost the ability to read and think?

So, what's in a name? It depends. Get a dictionary if you have to. Don't take anything for granted.