Medicine, Culture and Antibiotics

Can blogging make you sick? I’m starting to wonder. I seem to be falling apart. First it’s my back, then it’s my back again, and now a head cold. Maybe I’m paying the karmic price for railing against banana “ice cream,” but I regret nothing.

More than likely everything is the result of staying up too late, stress, and not taking care of myself in general.

Thankfully, today is the last day of the Times Union’s Best of the Capital Region Poll. You can still vote up until noon today, and for Pete’s sake, if you haven’t voted yet DO IT. Now. Use this link for the FUSSYlittleBALLOT and this link for the TU Poll.

I’ll wait.

No really. Do it now. I wish there were some kind of key code so I could lock up the blog and not let people click through to the end of posts without them having voted in the TU survey. Seriously, getting better places on the paper’s list would really help advance the cause of better food in the region. Please help. This year more than ever, every vote counts.

All this pitching for the ballot has been exhausting. I’ve wanted to do more than I’ve done. I sent scores of emails, but I wanted to send hundreds. I gained the support of several prominent bloggers, but hoped to reach dozens. And it’s taken a toll. What a lucky coincidence for me that the whole thing wraps up today on 4/20.

Yeah. So guess what? Medical marijuana is totally prescribed for chronic back pain. The pun was purely unintentional I’m sure.

Let me say this: It is shameful that in New York State has yet to legalize medical marijuana. Patients with cancer who are undergoing potentially life-saving chemotherapy have to suffer through awful side effects that can be mitigated with marijuana. Without a safe, legal path to this remedy people are either left to suffer or are forced to find it through illegal means.

Personally, I prefer my depressants in the form of cocktails. But to each their own. Although back pain is a killer. I’d try anything to help, because my hydrocodone is alarmingly ineffective at stopping the pain. Backs are serious business.

So no weed for me today.

Instead, I’ll probably have some more chicken soup to try and ease my cold symptoms. As I think about the above example of drugs and culture, I can’t help think about chicken soup and Judaism. Everyone knows that chicken soup is widely acknowledged as Jewish penicillin.

Here’s the interesting part. Penicillin does nothing for colds. Antibiotics don’t cure viral colds. Antibiotics fight infections. Well, they also make livestock gain weight faster while potentially putting all of humanity at risk for superbugs.

It’s sometimes hard to untangle those vestiges of the past that are totally wrong, yet somehow have entwined themselves into of our culture. You know, like drinking wine and spirits is immoral, or meat makes the meal.

Still, chicken soup makes me feel better. Certainly it’s better for a cold than penicillin. It’s hot and wet. Noodles are fun and slippery. A few soft veggies can get snuck in there. And if I’m feeling racy, I can spice it up with a scoop of gochujang and add a little soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and bit of brown sugar for what would surely be known as Korean penicillin.

So today, let’s hope that somewhere in the halls of power, someone is considering making antibiotics less legal while taking marijuana out of the shadows and into the hands of the sick. Thus starting the process of healing the world.

That last line was probably just my medicine talking. Did I also mention the muscle relaxants? With the poll done, I’m hoping I can take it easy and get a bit more rest. Thank you to those who voted with me. Have a great weekend.