Take the pill
A guy comes to the doctor as says: " I have a head ache and a stomach ache." The doctor answers: "I have just the thing for you. Wait." He leaves and comes back with a giant pill the size of a car tire. He breaks it in half and says: "This half is for your head ache. This half is for your stomach ache. Just be careful not to mix them up..."
When I was in my twenties I used to love this joke. I did not realize the joke was on me. My hero back than was Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors. He died young. Back than I thought it was a good idea. The three other members of the band tell that when the Doors were doing a live concerts, the fans would bring and offer them pills. You know, the pills they used to take in the 60-s, some pills take you high , some pills take you low, some pills speed you up. Some pills slow you down. Well, some members of the band refused to take the pills from the fans, or took one sometimes. And they lived to tell the story. Jim Morrison took EVERY pill he was offered. Jim Morrison was a poet and he was in pain. The pain was not physical, it was existential. And to treat the pain he took pills from his fans. He approached it like New York Lottery: "Hey, you never know". Hey, you never know , maybe this combination of blue, green , yellow and red pills will bring me just to the right combination of up, down , slow and fast. Maybe it will make you feel just the right way and will stop the pain, just for tonight. I think this approach to pills is great... If you are a rock star and if you want to die young.
In my thirties I realized that there are better things then dying young. And that's when I watched the movie "Matrix". Keanu Reeves was playing the role of Neo, a hacker who was offered two pills by Morpheus. A few moments earlier Neo was being chased by bad guys wearing dark clothes and sunglasses. And now, Neo was sitting in a dark room with Morpheus, who was wearing Black Leather robe and sunglasses.
Morpheus said something along the lines: "you have a choice: Take the red pill or take a blue pill One will wake you up and you will forget about what happened to you and one will let you see the truth about the Matrix. " At that moment Keanu Reeves made a thinking move and reached for the red. Morpheus stopped him as said : "But remember, once you take it, there's no going back". Keanu Reeves made one more thinking move and reached for the pill.
You see, Neo was also in pain. And the pain also wasn't physical, but existential. But this time it wasn't about feeling, it was about knowing. So what would I do if a weird bold person wearing a black leather robe and sunglasses would offer me a choice of pills , and one of them will make me sleep and the other will make me know. Well... Obviously the situation will raise some red flags . And some blue flags.
First, why would he wear sunglasses? It's a dark room we're talking about. The guy is obviously hiding something.
Second, what kind of the doctor wears black leather robe and not a white robe. I would tell you what kind of a doctor, but not with ladies in the room.
Third, what kind of a choice is that? Just two pills? There's a blue , the red, but where's the white and yellow and green and pink? What kind of a choice is that? I'll tell you - it's a sucker's choice.
If someone is offering you two pills, and there's no going back, and you have to choose right now, and the guy is wearing leather there's one thing you can be sure about: You are not at the doctor's appointment. You, my friend, are sitting through a hard sell pitch, and if you don't leave you will buy a Time Share in Nebraska or Donate your Kidney to Taliban or both.
This approach to taking pills is very popular now-days. First they tell you you're the One. Then they threaten you with bad guys. And lastly, they offer you the Sucker's choice: Android or iPhone, Mac or PC, Democrats or Republicans, Red state or Blue State. Red Pill or Blue Pill? Don't take a pill. Leave the room.
Because if you don't you will join one of the two armies. Either the suckers who to took the red pill or the suckers who took the blue pill. They walk around in black leather robes and sunglasses and scream at each other: "Wake up!! No , You Wake up!!! You are in the matrix! No! You are in the Matrix! Don't you see! Android! iPhone! Mac! PC! Pro Life! Pro Choice! Blue! Red!" . Suckers.
So where does it leave us? Take all the pills and you die before 30. Make a sucker's choice and you never wake up. Well, there's a third, old school approach. If you're in pain, you do your research. You find a good doctor. You make an appointment. Make sure he wears a white robe. You show him where it hurts. And when he brings you the pill a size of a car tire, even if it's funny, even if it does not make sense, even if you don't understand how it works, you take the pill home and you use it. This half for the head ache. This half for the stomach ache. Don't mix it up.
When I was in my twenties I used to love this joke. I did not realize the joke was on me. My hero back than was Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors. He died young. Back than I thought it was a good idea. The three other members of the band tell that when the Doors were doing a live concerts, the fans would bring and offer them pills. You know, the pills they used to take in the 60-s, some pills take you high , some pills take you low, some pills speed you up. Some pills slow you down. Well, some members of the band refused to take the pills from the fans, or took one sometimes. And they lived to tell the story. Jim Morrison took EVERY pill he was offered. Jim Morrison was a poet and he was in pain. The pain was not physical, it was existential. And to treat the pain he took pills from his fans. He approached it like New York Lottery: "Hey, you never know". Hey, you never know , maybe this combination of blue, green , yellow and red pills will bring me just to the right combination of up, down , slow and fast. Maybe it will make you feel just the right way and will stop the pain, just for tonight. I think this approach to pills is great... If you are a rock star and if you want to die young.
In my thirties I realized that there are better things then dying young. And that's when I watched the movie "Matrix". Keanu Reeves was playing the role of Neo, a hacker who was offered two pills by Morpheus. A few moments earlier Neo was being chased by bad guys wearing dark clothes and sunglasses. And now, Neo was sitting in a dark room with Morpheus, who was wearing Black Leather robe and sunglasses.
Morpheus said something along the lines: "you have a choice: Take the red pill or take a blue pill One will wake you up and you will forget about what happened to you and one will let you see the truth about the Matrix. " At that moment Keanu Reeves made a thinking move and reached for the red. Morpheus stopped him as said : "But remember, once you take it, there's no going back". Keanu Reeves made one more thinking move and reached for the pill.
You see, Neo was also in pain. And the pain also wasn't physical, but existential. But this time it wasn't about feeling, it was about knowing. So what would I do if a weird bold person wearing a black leather robe and sunglasses would offer me a choice of pills , and one of them will make me sleep and the other will make me know. Well... Obviously the situation will raise some red flags . And some blue flags.
First, why would he wear sunglasses? It's a dark room we're talking about. The guy is obviously hiding something.
Second, what kind of the doctor wears black leather robe and not a white robe. I would tell you what kind of a doctor, but not with ladies in the room.
Third, what kind of a choice is that? Just two pills? There's a blue , the red, but where's the white and yellow and green and pink? What kind of a choice is that? I'll tell you - it's a sucker's choice.
If someone is offering you two pills, and there's no going back, and you have to choose right now, and the guy is wearing leather there's one thing you can be sure about: You are not at the doctor's appointment. You, my friend, are sitting through a hard sell pitch, and if you don't leave you will buy a Time Share in Nebraska or Donate your Kidney to Taliban or both.
This approach to taking pills is very popular now-days. First they tell you you're the One. Then they threaten you with bad guys. And lastly, they offer you the Sucker's choice: Android or iPhone, Mac or PC, Democrats or Republicans, Red state or Blue State. Red Pill or Blue Pill? Don't take a pill. Leave the room.
Because if you don't you will join one of the two armies. Either the suckers who to took the red pill or the suckers who took the blue pill. They walk around in black leather robes and sunglasses and scream at each other: "Wake up!! No , You Wake up!!! You are in the matrix! No! You are in the Matrix! Don't you see! Android! iPhone! Mac! PC! Pro Life! Pro Choice! Blue! Red!" . Suckers.
So where does it leave us? Take all the pills and you die before 30. Make a sucker's choice and you never wake up. Well, there's a third, old school approach. If you're in pain, you do your research. You find a good doctor. You make an appointment. Make sure he wears a white robe. You show him where it hurts. And when he brings you the pill a size of a car tire, even if it's funny, even if it does not make sense, even if you don't understand how it works, you take the pill home and you use it. This half for the head ache. This half for the stomach ache. Don't mix it up.