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October 17, 2007

They Can't Enjoy Their Risotto If They Can't Pay Their !@#$%^& Bills?

Justin Katz

During a commercial break from Kitchen Nightmares, featuring master chef turned restaurateur self-help guru Gordon Ramsay, I read the following comment from George to my Too Cheery post:

Yesterday morning some drunk fell flat on his face at a RIPTA bus stop. 7 AM! Just think of the cost of having this loser in our state. What did it cost Cranston FD and PD to respond. What did the delays cost RIPTA. What was the cost of the delay to the 5% of the riders who were actually heading to do something productive. (The other 95%, not yet "falling-down" drunk, were only headed somewhere looking for a hand-out.) What was the cost of his emergency room treatment? By 9 am, this loser had probably sucked 20 grand out of the economy. The first step in the right direction is to stop making this state so attractive to losers AND make it attractive to productive, law-abiding citizens who speak English. People who contribute!

These people don't need "assistance," they take advantage of it. "Assistance" only perpetuates their condition. They need tough love. No assistance, no shelters, no hand outs! They'll either get it together or move somewhere else!

I really do feel bad for these people because I see first hand every morning how the "system" is doing absolutely nothing to improve their condition.

And Michael Morse's:

On an average day in Providence on Rescue 1 I take five intoxicated males to the hospital ER for "detox." There are six rescues in Providence. Sometimes every rescue has an intoxicated person getting a free ride. All this while tax paying, law abiding citizens wait for help from Warwick, Cranston, Lincoln, Cumberland, Coventry, Seekonk.... Every day. Day after day. Taxpayers in those towns wait longer for help because the rescues their tax dollars are paying for are tied up in Providence on mutual aid.

And it occurred to me that Rhode Island needs the Chef Ramsay treatment. Give him behind the scenes access to our government. Not necessarily to make substantial changes, but it would surely be helpful for somebody to give those who run our state a good profanity-laced dose of the ol' wake up dip!@#$.

Comments

Justin,
Don't worry about it. If the rescue takes the person to a hospital in RI, there's a good chance he'll just die there anyway.

HealthGrades just published a hospital quality study ranked by state and giving state mortality rates.

Guess where RI ranked? Let's just say RI isn't exactly at the top.

Posted by: Anthony at October 18, 2007 6:21 AM