Sucks

There is no other word for this entry, other than 'sucks'. However, as I am typing this, I am wondering, why do Americans say something 'sucks' when they mean something terrible/undesirable/awful? For infants, it is actually really great fun to suck on something...

Anyway. Back to what sucks.

I saw a patient yesterday, he is undocumented. Not just undocumented. He missed his opportunity to get a social security number. Before September 11, 2001, anyone could get off the plane, on a tourist visa, head over to the nearest Social Security Administration Building, and get this magical 9 digit number. For my patient, he landed here on a tourist visa, hung out a little too long, then 9/11 happened, the laws changed, and he was stuck without a SS #. Meanwhile, he really wants to stay here instead of going back home. He has plans of working to support his son and father, who are still in his home country. However, without this SS#, he can't get a decent job. He can't even get a California driver's license! So he had to get in a van, with other undocumented folks, head north to another state, to get a license. Yet most driving jobs here require a CA license, not to mention legal status. To make it worse, he is actually college educated, in engineering! He is underemployed. For now, he drives his little car and delivers pizzas. Out of the $8/hour he makes, he has to pay for gas. So he takes home about $50 a day. He has filed his paperwork with INS and will be legal in 2012. I haven't asked him how it works in terms of staying here as undocumented while waiting for legal status. That is for our next visit.

While I am typically conservative in my opinions, there is just something not right about this. Yet at the same time, I am not sure it is all that right that he receives treatment from me for free, gets his medications for free...

Tell me what you think. I am curious.