There is no societal disapproval of being overweight in the urban area where I live, it's the norm. But it is socioeconomically related and the suburban area where I work one day a week does have its share of the thin and youth -obsessed. Being overweight is such the norm that although I lost weight (mostly due to stress related reasons but some dietary changes) and ended up squarely in the middle of my acceptable range, more than one person said I was "so thin" did I have cancer? When I asked people what they thought I "should" weigh...many of them came up with a number that put me (at least by BMI standards) on the high end of overweight toward mildly obese.

Thanks grandpa!! I have heard it comes from your mother's father. And he was definately bald. But.... an amazingly talented man, I might add. Alas...my mother has no brothers. I have three other male sibs. Every other one has had pattern baldness beginning with the second oldest. I would trade a bit of the testosterone for some hair at times. Not to have hair...just to mitigate the "drive" sometimes. It becomes distracting at times. My partners have never complained about lack....and I like to make sure there are some oooohhhs to go with the ahhhhs that lpinkmountain spoke of. Nothing more gratifying than the pleased smile on a woman's face. You people have a nice day! Bob

Hi bee-in-her-bonnet in Ohio, Get a cap with its logo on it, make up some brochures, and attend local nurses' gatherings? And the message here should be helpful: a lot of useful stuff shows up and gets accomplished in this place. ole joyful

Doctors are forced into conglomerates primarily because they can't afford the malpractice rates. Simple as that. All the codes and forms are in the computer software. They just click on (for example) office visit, lab test, blood work, flu shot, annual physical and it's done. The days of the small town doctor going door to door with the black bag and lollipops are basically only a fond memory. Everyone wants to sue the doctor or the hospital because they didn't get coco puffs for breakfast or they didn't like the band-aid color after the shot. Put me in charge of the judicial system and frivilous lawsuits would at least be cut way down, or eliminated. That would help in a lot of ways. And for many if not most on Medicare it's not single payer. Many/most? have supplemental coverage so hardly single payer. And sorting through the different policies is ridiculous. This whole thing of politicizing health care is a joke. What we have isn't perfect but you'd be far ahead to work on it rather than try to scrap it and start over. Except I'm still waiting for the "death panels" that the Bimbo from Nowhere promised us over and over. I WANT THOSE DEATH PANELS! I'll be the first volunteer to be on the panel.