Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Longevity

The study indicates that Laura is among the victims who have moved an average 3.5 times since the hurricane. The study also shows she’s one of those 40 percent of women who suffers depression. According to the study, all three of her children have developed disorders; one is convinced there is a tempest in the fridge; one wakes from nightmares to hoard the valuables; one is among the 34 percent who suffer asthma. The study has found that Laura’s family also makes up part of the 14 percent that didn’t get prescribed medication during the three months of the storm’s aftermath. The trailer shakes with loud crying and uncontrollable fits of laughter. Through all the disorder, Laura was able to finish reading a memoir written by a man who survived San Francisco’s quake of 1906. He attributes his longevity to a healthy sex life. Now Laura thinks: shouldn’t Public Health officials in Louisiana spend more time teaching hurricane survivors the mysteries of the Kama Sutra? Seems that’d be more fruitful than harvesting meaningless statistics. Laura knows better than to trust cold numbers. She’s no poor victim. She’s got her sex drive, plenty of wind in her sails on that score. Laura wonders: why do those studies insist on counting complaints rather than tallying the scores?

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