don’t just pay it. do not automatically pay the hospital bill when you receive it. call your health insurance provider and POLITELY say, “excuse me, i just received a bill for $1200 for my hospital visit/ER visit/etc., is that the correct amount i’m supposed to pay?” because hospitals bill you before your health insurance and they will take your money no matter how the amount due may change based on your health insurance looking at it. 90% of the time, if your health insurance is in any way involved in the payment of that bill, you do not have to pay as much as the hospital is billing you for. call your health insurance provider first, and POLITELY request clarification, always remember that the person you are talking to is human and this is just their job, and then you will very likely find out you actually only owe $500.
don’t shout at anyone about it, don’t get mad, just understand that this is The Way Things Are right now and call your health insurance provider before paying the bill your hospital just sent you. there’s a chance the hospital bill might be correct, true, but call your health insurance provider.
THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT. after my car accident last year the hospital billed me ~$8000. They sent me letters asking me to pay, and I called them back saying my insurance was processing the claim. This is also what I told the collection agency when they kept calling me about the $1000 emergency room fee (billed separately from the hospital fee, mind you). Once everything got straightened out, all I was actually liable for was my $200 emergency copay.
!!!!!!! things my ass didn’t know !!!!!!!!
Yes this is a life lesson my adulting ass didn’t know I needed and I’m out 80 bucks for an anti-nausea pill. 😒😒😒😒😒
You know, I haven’t been a hunter for very long, but it feels like this is the life. Mostly ends in Sophie’s choices, death, or tears. Usually, all of the above, huh? How did this become my life? I mean, I was gonna own my own start-up, marry ScarJo, invent something cool. Now I’m just- I’m just happy to be alive.
This is the cast of the hit TV comedy Brooklyn Nine Nine:
It is a well-rounded cast. The characters are different people with different dreams and goals and personalities and priorities, and they work together.
These two are Amy Santiago and Rosa Diaz, two Latina women:
Although they are both Latina women, they are very different characters. Amy is a nerdy, easily-excited perfectionist and Rosa is a blunt, tough-as-nails badass.
If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the Latina character on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.
These two are Captain Raymond Holt and Terry Jeffords, two black men:
Although they are both black men, they are very different characters. Captain Holt is strict and humourless, Terry is a musclebound teddy bear.
If I were to ask “what’s your opinion of the black man on Brooklyn Nine Nine”, you would have to respond with “which one?”.
A lot of people don’t like “tokenism” in fiction. And, it’s true, if you’re adding in a black character just for the sake of representing all black people in your fiction, it can be an example of poor writing.
But, when you watch Brooklyn Nine Nine, none of the characters above feel like token characters.
Now, if I were to remove Amy Santiago from the show, many people might think of Rosa as the token Latina. And, as the only Latina, many people might think that she was there to represent all Latina women. They might say “Is that really what you think all Latina women are like? That they all wear leather jackets and grunt in monosyllables and beat people senseless? What a terrible stereotype!”
If I were to remove Captain Holt from the show, many people might think of Terry as the token black man. And, as the only black man, many people might think that he was there to represent all black men. They might say “Is that really what you think all black men are like? That they’re all vain, overmuscled behemoths, tamed into domesticity? What a terrible stereotype!”.
It is precisely because the show features multiple examples of each of these demographics that they escape stereotyping. If you see one Latina woman who exhibits aggressive traits, you might think that all Latina women have anger management problems. If you see two Latina women, though, and one is aggressive and the other isn’t, you would not reach that conclusion. It would be impossible for someone to watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine Nine and come away thinking “ah yes, now I know what all Latina women are like” or “ah yes, now I know what all black men are like”.
It is fine not to approve of tokenism in fiction. It’s fine! Including a character purely to check that character’s ethnicity or gender or disability or sexuality off of a checklist can be terrible writing. Token characters can perpetuate negative stereotypes, or even help to create new ones.
But, if you don’t like token characters, the answer isn’t less diversity.
“Not all men” I say, “there is but one who is purely good.” But which man am I referring to? In Iceland, deep in the woods and the snow, there lives a lad raised by wolves who feasts upon sunbeams and loves all of nature, unburdened by man’s sins. Tenderly, he strokes a hungry squirrel, sharing with her the last acorns of the autumn harvest. A tear rolls down his cheek. Who is he
