What Paris taught me about American health care

Earlier this month my family traveled to Paris together. It was the first time I had been there in thirteen years. So last time I was a newlywed, and this time I saw the city through the eyes of a Mom of a ten-year old. I am sharing this not as a travelogue, but because the experience of spending time in a country that has universal health care really struck me at this moment as we, here in the United States, are debating the future of our current flawed health care system.

Today as the Senate is taking action on their bill, I want to tell you what I learned on my recent trip, but first I want to mention that today I heard a fantastic interview on The Story With Dick Gordon [listen through their website or by iTunes podcast] about a French woman who lived in America for many years, and became an American citizen. She was married to a doctor and and worked as an administrator in his medical practice, but even so they could not afford health insurance for themselves or their employees. So when she became seriously ill, she ended up returning to France for hospitalization and stabilization. Then she came back to America, and was able to get insurance and continued her treatment here. She sees the good in the American system but also the gaping holes in coverage that can leave people untreated, which she says just would not happen in France.


On our recent trip to Paris, I was immediately struck by how family-friendly the city seemed. Our first full day there we happened upon a massive Family Sport Fun Fair, designed to promote healthy living. It was a huge festival taking place in the field next to the Eiffel Tower. The FREE festival featured dozens of activities, from a little Circus School, to boxing lessons from the police, to Aikido demonstrations, a rock climbing wall, badminton courts, wheelchair sports for all to try, and a cool obstacle course. There was even a scuba-diving tank trucked in, which you had to see to believe.



We passed on the scuba diving lessons but did just about everything else we could fit in. I was really proud of Mojo Girl as she scaled the rock-climbing wall and careened down on the huge zip line attached to the top. Here she was in a brand-new city, and she doesn't speak French, so it took all the courage she had to try out these adventurous activities. (At the rock climbing wall we waited in line for an hour and saw about 50 kids do it ahead of us, so we helped translate the instructions for her as we all observed.)

Being in Paris and doing family activities for a whole week I really felt that there is a French esprit de corps that we are lacking here, at least in American suburbia. I don't know if I am capturing the exact term the French would use, and if anyone can direct me to a more accurate term I am all ears. But I felt like the Parisians are really used to being together, in public. Instead of being in a car, for the whole week we walked, or took the Metro subway or bus. The city is crowded and we were surrounded by lots of other people the whole time. But with the exception of one jam-packed subway ride with suitcases, it wasn't uncomfortable. People didn't feel like "strangers," they felt like people. They were generally not overtly friendly but they were not intimidating either, and any time we needed assistance we were able to find it.

So when it came to Parisian kids, I got the sense that they are used to crowds. Take a look at the playground on a Wednesday afternoon when there was no school:


That is public spirit!

We spent a lot of time on the playground (roughly one park visit for every musuem or church visit) and it really and truly struck me to the the core of my heart as I looked at the diverse, playful crowd: every one of these kids has health care. And it felt different. It didn't feel like us versus them, my group versus your group, rich versus poor. It was just KIDS at the park and they all had health care.

American kids deserve no less and we need to keep pushing our leaders as they take tentative steps in the direction of providing options that will make health care for all a possibility.

How to get there is still a matter of great debate and one piece of good news is that there is more than one way to do it! I recommend the Fresh Air interview with author T. R. Reid talking about different health care strategies around the globe, also detailed in his book The Healing of America, and the Frontline special Sick Around the World.

We HAVE to figure out a better way to provide health care in the United States and ensure that everybody has basic coverage. I am afraid that our great American Individualism has become our great flaw: we assume that what we have do it here is the BEST when it's not necessarily so. When it comes to health care and related social/family issues like maternity leave, we can no longer afford to stick out like a sore thumb as the big, rich industrialized nation that has failed to provide the basic protection that we need.

Do you have experience with health care around the world that allows you to see the American system in a different light? Please tell us about it in the comment section.

A job-share success story

I am so proud of Mojo Advisory Circle members Meghan Gosk and Anna Millar. They shared the story of their successful job-share position on The Story With Dick Gordon yesterday, which is broadcast nationally on about 100 stations.

Anna and Meghan worked hard from scratch to write the business plan to convince UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School to allow them to share the position of Associate Director of the MBA Program. As far as we know, they are the first job-share partners in the UNC system. They've shown how valuable a job share team can be to the university: it's key to think of it as a job share, not a job split. They are both empowered to make decisions, and UNC gets two smart people thinking about every challenge that comes their way. They generally split the time in the office, but can both come in together during busy seasons, such as orientation or special training and conferences.

Meghan and Anna embody the best of what Katty Kay and Claire Shipman write about in their new book Womenomics. It can be done by real people! I look forward to the day when job share, with proportional benefits, and ongoing opportunity for promotion, becomes a standard option for employers to consider as a smart way to utilize a smart talent pool.

How tasting dog food made me a better cook

"How tasting dog food made me a better cook." That idea has been playing in my mind all morning long. No, I haven't been reduced to stealing my dog's kibble. Read on to find out what the heck all this has do to with Mojo Mom.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am crazy about motherhood, politics, writing, and radio. There is a current that runs under all of these themes--storytelling. I have become fascinated with communication. How can we get our messages across to our kids, spouses, blogosphere, electorate, or President? How can we craft ideas that pierce through our listerners' emotional armor, or find a small piece of clear desktop in their cluttered mindspaces?

It comes down to crafting sticky messages, unraveling mysteries for our audiences, and telling good stories. Moms are in a good position to do this--we have real live audiences who ask us night after night, "Mommy, tell me a story." I feel that in many ways we are better positioned to deliver direct, effective, and interesting communication than people who have been locked in a corporate bubble or an ivory tower. My podcast co-host Sheryl Grant is a wonderful writer an interesting person. As she heads back into academia, where she is assigned to give PowerPoint presentations (not assigned to give an effective presentation, but a PowerPoint presentation) I worry about the forces of academic conformity and jargon-creep corrupting my friend's brain.

Case in point: I wanted to learn more about the feminist movement of the 1970's, so I picked up the book Yours In Sisterhood: Ms. Magazine and the Promise of Popular Feminism which just happened to be published by The University of North Carolina Press. The ingredients of a great story are present, ready to be brewed into an intriguing tale. Who would effect more cultural change, the independent newsletter publishers who refused to cooperate with the mass media, or the founders of Ms. Magazine who risked working in a commercial setting, cooperating with the media, while trying not to lose their integrity. The media created a "star system" that anointed spokespeople like Gloria Steinem, Kate Millett, and Betty Friedan. I believe this story could be told with academic accuracy and spellbinding reader interest. Unfortunately, as ususal, the academic treatment drains all the life out of this dramatic story and I have to work to drag my attention beyond page 27.

What's going on here? In my favorite new book, Made to Stick authors talk about "the curse of knowledge," which is the mental block that experts develop that makes it impossible to imagine a story from a beginner's perspecitve, leading to ineffective communication. Good old fashioned, detailed storytelling is on of the antidotes to break this curse. As a nonfiction writer, I find that it is easy to get wrapped up living in my head in a world of ideas all day long. I have to consciously unplug from my imagination from time to time to reconnect with the sensory world, regrounding myself in reality. (For Myers-Briggs fans, as a natural ENFJ I find this even more of a challenge.)

This morning I got a lesson in storytelling from an unexpected source when The Story interviewed Pat Patterson, who in her role as a professional "sensory analyst" is hired to smell and taste just about anything you could dream up. Imagine a day at work where you eat dry dog food and rate how meaty it is, and describe the smell of used cat litter. Pat has traveled to New Jersey to feel men's faces after shaving, and flown to Indonesia to taste fresh fruit. Her immersion in the sensory world has its benefits. She says that as a result of her work, she has become a better cook, leading her to place more emphasis on flavor and trying new spices. I thought that the concept of "How tasting dog food made me a better cook" was one of the stickiest story ideas ever.

Clear-headed mindfulness, showing up and paying attention and being in the moment are precious commodities today. I am guilty of multitasking and living with my head in the clouds on a regular basis. Once in a while a word from my daughter, Zen writing, Yoda (we just watched the whole Star Wars trilogy over the holidays) or someone like Pat Patterson brings me back to the here and now. I'll take my teachers wherever I can find them. I know that connecting with the senses and stories of life will make me a more effective writer and a more connected Mom.