your rainbow connection

i went to the dermatologist today with a laundry list of "issues". i got there early. waited 30 minutes after my time to be seen. and was out in less than 20 minutes. i'm not sure that i feel satisfied.

originally, my doctor had sent me over for this splotchy mark-thingy on my arm which turns out to just be not much of anything. and the other arm-thing is just a growth which i'm prone to (yay genetics!) and isn't worth the surgury of lopping it off. (she tried to suggest i go to a specialist to get a diagnosis for that and i told her i was already diagnosed and had put as such on my intake paperwork.)

she also gave me over $100 worth of prescriptions for acne. (that's With the copay.) it's there, but it's not worth spending that much money on. (if i'm not going to pay $2 for a razor to shave my legs, do you Really think i'm going to spend That Much every month?) especially since it included (nuvaring-safe) antibiotic pills and i don't do pills, especially when they increase my skin EVEN MORE to the cursed sun (note to self: get an icon of angry old man shaking his fist at the sun cursing it.) she didn't really have much to say about the residual scarrage.

bah. now i remember why i don't go to doctors. i'm not just a paycheck, damnit.

i go back in 2 months and see the senior partner of the place because the doctor i saw is quite pregnant and won't be there.

also, the allergist never had a final consultation with me and just told me to call him back. i hope i did/n't scare him off with my talk of the ghost cat and phantom chickens. but he asked.

(  NTYIMES 1-17-05 Police Question Mother, 13, in Baby's Death... The mother of a newborn boy left for dead outside a church in the Bronx was identified by the police last night as a 13-year-old girl. She will probably face charges, the authorities said. . . .The girl can be charged as an adult. . .The baby was left only six blocks from the hospital. Under state law, people can leave unwanted children at hospitals without fear of arrest.  )

HOW do *i* know where to take any unwanted children? (and, actually, i think there's an age limit on this) because every time something like this happens - it's mentioned.
is it mentioned any other time? no. are there signs up in the subway? no. are there comercials on tv? no. or the radio? no. are there billboards on phone booths? no. in schools? no. on top of taxis? no. have i ever heard this law mentioned at any other time, save for when it's already too late? NO.
protective state laws don't mean shit if you're uninformed.

and if you're THIRTEEN years old? in new york, you may (currently) be able to get an abortion/birth control services on your own to keep this from happening, but this is provided you KNOW this and can AFFORD it.
however, may not be old enough to (legally): vote, drive a car, buy liquor/tobacco/porn, join the military, generally open your own bank account, have your own credit card, stay out past city-imposed curfew, be employed by most employers, get into R (or NC-17) movies, rent an apartment by yourself, easily open your own public assistance case, get a loan, be respected. . . . but goddamnit, you just might be old enough to be tried as an adult.