Hound Dog
Sep 22, 2009, 2:56 PM
Post #1 of 5
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I have probably written of this before but life´s lessons sometimes bear repeating.
So, anyway, last January I´m lying there in this abominably filthy and primitive hospital with the colorful and romantic name of the Hospital Colonial in the historic center of the otherwise fine, beautiful and polished ancient city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas dying, or so I thought, among edifices struck by countless generations of the Spanish predating my arrival on the planet; said edifices which were inconsequential in terms of the civilization that predated them built by the Maya among others and I must say I may have been impressed by all this history and architectural achievement except that my own history on the planet was about to end as best I knew at that point and the next thing I was going to be staring up at was the inside top of my coffin but as it happened I saw my way through that at that point although that certainly was an interim and temporary victory but here is what I remember. I had a very fine team of surgeons and consulting doctors that saved my life and these were the losers who were on duty during Christmas week while anyone worth his or her salt was in Acapulco but that hospital was so filthy and disorganized and insecure and incompatible with life itself that had Cortez arrived, been wounded and given a room in that hospital, the Spanish would have never occupied Mexico or not for long anyway but where was I?
While I was lying there in the squalor of that hospital being shoved about by this insolent and rude cleaning lady if I may be so bold is to use the term, "cleaning lady", for some bedraggled hag who last bathed about the time I was born in 1942 and kept shoving me about so she could spread more accumulated filth with that mop that had not been cleaned since the aforementioned Cortez waded ashore in the fairly nearby state of Veracruz if ever, I had an epiphany . I realized that in terms of even a few decades, nothing that happened to em at that time really mattered.
While I was lying there assured that things were probably concluded for me, my insurance company called and told me that should I desire the service they would fly me free to Mexico City, Guadalajara or even Monterrey for emergency treatment at the finest hospitals of my choice but I declined stating that I was in such bad shape that I would stay at this two bit San Cristóbal hospital for treatment and as it happened that worked out and for some reason insurance company logic is that I and my wife have choseen to live in primitive and poverty-stricken Chiapas part time but here is the kicker. When I returned to Ajijic, I called my insurance agent to thank him for the fine response of the company which it happens is AXA. He told me that that was fine but I should not expect a repeat of that sort of offer and I asked him why. Now, get this.
It seems that, while we live in Ajijic within easy reach of Guadalajara´s fine hospitals, we have chosen to also live part of the year in Chiapas with its, at best, marginal hosptials even in the largest urban areas. Therefore, in the future, should we be resident in San Cristóbal when taken ill, they will not offer the air ambulance service to Mexico City or Gudalajara again since living in a primitive area with marginal hospital care was our decision and - get this - since I at one time elected to choose hospital care in Chiapas (since I thought I would not survive a flight) and turned down their offer of an emergency flight, they would never offer that emergency flight service again. That´s fine. I liked the service I received in the Chiapas mountains. Screw them.
(This post was edited by Hound Dog on Sep 22, 2009, 3:04 PM)
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