Population Health 101

The last 10 days of weather in our city have been anything but boring. Heavy snow fall, power outages and most importantly to my students, cancelled classes. In one of my classes we're currently talking about population health and wellness. In an online discussion board I posed the following question to my class. "What impact would the inclement weather in Kansas City have on population health?" Most of the responses were exactly what I'd expect, "People who need health care might not be able to venture out to get it," ,"Increased difficulty with access to care", "More injures as a result of slips, falls, and snow shoveling." 

However, once again I got the one response I was not expecting. One student said the following, "Slips and falls, old farts having heart attacks from over doing it with the shovel. But most importantly, well over one thousand people lost power, and when the power goes out, there ain't much to do but have sex. So look for the population to go up in about 9 months."

What could I say? While his response was somewhat crude, he was exactly right!

Keep it funny my friends!

Business as usual

In my new job I get to use the gym for free. Since we are a public school all senior residents of the county get to use it as well. It's been a lot of fun chatting it up with the seniors while they work out.

However, yesterday was the most noteworthy. I'm on the elliptical machine (a love/ hate relationship). Next to me on another elliptical machine is Ed an elderly gentlemen cruising along on his machine while watching c-span. All of a sudden over to the side in the free-weight area we hear some of the most obnoxious sounds. I look over to see a giant meat head trying to lift what appears to be WAY more weight than he can clearly handle. I look over at Ed and say..."I can't help but wonder if Thor over there can lift that much weight without looking and sounding like he's trying to pass a kidney stone the size of a grapefruit."

I should have known better than cracking a joke to Ed while he was trying to work out. Poor Ed nearly fell off his machine. The last thing I wanted was a broken hip on my hands. Ed managed to compose himself and I saw him a few minutes later in a circle with all of his buddies pointing back over at the meat head mentioned above. Ed had recycled my joke and was hit of all of his buddies. Roger Rabbit once said, "A laugh can be a very powerful thing. Why, sometimes in life, it's the only weapon we have." 

All in a days work I guess...