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I’ve come to expect that whether it is a baseball, football, basketball game or anything else, obnoxious fans comes with the territory.

In my blogs, I’ve chronicled other events in my life where I became upset at people for talking and being disruptive – at the movies, on airplanes, etc.  But I wonder how different the below-situation really is.

Don’t get me wrong, at a sporting event, I think you should get pumped up, jump up and down, scream or do whatever else you need to do in order to support your team.  However, I think in doing so, there is an unwritten rule as a fan.  And that rule is: you do things within reason and along with your fellow fans?  Am I wrong?  Read on…

I was at the baseball game on Saturday night.  The lady in front of us was standing up the entire time.  She stood when nobody was standing.  She stood when everyone was standing.  She just flat out stood there.  Nobody around us could see because of her.

This lady was screaming, dancing and attempting to get the crowd into the game, but frankly, it appeared that she was annoying people more than anything.  She would walk up and down the aisle, patting fans on their shoulders and trying to get them into the game.  She even spent time not watching the game, but rather facing backwards towards our section yelling and screaming.  To be honest, I didn’t see her drinking, so I think she was just being rowdy.  Talk about an outgoing personality!

The funniest part of the night was when the guy she was with just left.  He mouthed something like “let’s go” and started walking up the stairs.  She followed him for a second, only to return back near her seat and start carrying on again.

This situation got me wondering.  Should I, as a fan, care what other fans around me do?  Should I have told this woman to sit down, which I did – repeatedly?  Clearly, every fan in the section was bothered by the distraction. You could see it on their faces.  Or should I just come to accept that some fans get carried away, drink too much, get rowdy, maybe even get thrown out, etc?  I guess I just didn’t like not being able to see for nine innings.  And before you say it – no, there were no other seats around me to move to!

There comes a time when even the most energetic fans become a problem.  Well, that’s what I’m chalking this up to anyway…

Click here to see my problem fan!

I absolutely dread car shopping.  I don’t know why, but it is one of those things that I just don’t look forward to.  Luckily my car is only seven years old and has been paid off for a few years, so there is no immediate rush.

A gentleman who reads this blog shared an interesting story with me.  As it turns out, my conversation with him was very ironic, because what he described had just happened to me as well.  I told him that I was preparing to share my story – and listening to his feedback confirmed that I should.

Like I was saying above, my car is in descent condition and I avoid looking for a new one like the plague.  However, my wife and I found ourselves at a dealership this week asking some questions about a very desirable promotion we had heard about.  We looked at some vehicles and decided to have the dealer (as you will say) “run the numbers.”  While we were waiting, I was told that someone from the dealership would need to do a quick inspection of my vehicle and take it out for test drive.  I was fine with this, because I take excellent care of my car and wanted to make the most of a potential trade-in.  So I gave them my keys and saw them drive my car out of the parking lot.

In the meantime, we reviewed the financial piece with the representative and it was, what I would consider, a very good deal.  I was surprised things had gone so smoothly in the short time I had been there.  It had been a long day and I was starving, so I said something like: well, let us go grab a sandwich, discuss it and we’ll come back.  Then I asked for my car keys back.  The gentleman told me he didn’t have my keys.  I asked where my keys were and he told me they were in the “Manager’s” office.  I figured out immediately what was going on…

They were holding my keys hostage basically, so I wouldn’t drive out of the parking lot, only to not return and not buy a new car.  Being The Constant Complainer, I admit that I have the tendency to overanalyze things, but I tried to remain calm.  I again asked for my keys back.  Their response was something like: well, let’s look at these numbers again and talk about you making a deposit to hold the new car.  This went on for more than ten minutes.  I finally demanded they return my keys and I just started walking towards where I thought the Manager’s office might be.  The Manager was actually very nice and gave me the keys back without incident.

We didn’t end up buying the new car.  Not because of what happened, but because I decided I am content with my current vehicle.  However, when the reader contacted me with an almost identical story involving a different dealership, I wasn’t surprised, because this concept of hiding the keys is apparently a common practice in the industry.  I’m sure that was only the beginning of my car buying saga, but it will be enough to keep me off the market for a while.

My question is – exactly how many people fall prey to this practice and just give in to the goading (and put a deposit down)?  I would hope not a lot, but hey, even The Constant Complainer gets surprised at least once a day…

Here at The Constant Complainer, as you know, I offer the opportunity for people to post guest columns.  This one was submitted by Sugar.  Enjoy and please remember to give her feedback.

I usually don’t complain very much, but an event happened to my husband and me over the weekend.  Just to give you some insight, my husband and I work different schedules.  So unless I am up at 12:30 a.m. when he gets home, or he is up at 6:30 a.m. when I get up, we don’t see each other until the weekend.  Yes, we talk on the phone whenever we get a chance, but it’s not the same.  Also, we help out each other’s in-laws with their yards, chores, etc. on the weekends. Our time together is limited. 

My husband had to work on Saturday at his other job, so Sunday was the only day this week that we could spend any time together.  So, as we were lounging around in our pajamas on Sunday morning, we heard a knock at the door.  I knew we shouldn’t have opened the door.  It was my husband’s cousins from Pennsylvania.  They drove up two days earlier and figured they would “stop in” to visit us.  No phone calls, no messages, nothing!

We would never just stop in unannounced to an out-of-state relative’s house.  They always do this.  So here we are, dishes in the sink, house disarrayed, and us in our pajamas.  They just come right in and start talking, asking for snacks and coffee.  They want to see photo albums and want to take a tour of the house.  Then to top it off, they invited other family members over our house to visit with them and us!  We were planning on going grocery shopping later on, but had to make a special trip out to get some goodies to tide them over.  They stayed for most of the day!  Subtly, my husband and I made hints that if they would have called, then we could have been better hosts.  They’re answer was “Oh, we don’t mind, this is fine.”  Well WE did mind!  They totally disregarded us half of the time to talk with the other family members that arrived.  By the time they left, my husband and I were in such a rotten mood, that we just ended up going grocery shopping and arguing for what was left of the evening.

We are never rude to friends/family members, and it’s not that we don’t like to host “get-togethers”, but we had no notice. It still upsets us that our family members can be so inconsiderate.  What are they thinking when they do that?  They’ve been here for two days!  Is it that hard to make a phone call or to send us an e-mail saying the dates that they would be in town?  I thought they acted rude and inconsiderate.  This is not the first time they have done this.  Do you have family members like this, and if so, what are your thoughts?

I normally don’t comment too much about political topics.  Writing about them is not normally my style.  However, once in a while, something strikes me as interesting enough to give it the spotlight on this site.

Most of you know that I live in Cleveland.  You know – Cleveland, C-Town, home of the The Flats, etc.  Well, for those of you that didn’t know it, The Flats are no more and C-Town is dead.

Over the past several years, one thing has been of particular interest to me – the fact that downtown is dying.  Whether you go downtown on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday, the same thing is painfully obvious – nobody is there.  That didn’t used to be the case.  But the problem has been slowly evolving.

Here’s a typical scenario.  I went downtown for dinner last Wednesday night.  I probably arrived around 6 p.m.  To me, Cleveland looked like a town in an old western movie – tumbleweeds and all.  Then I was downtown again on Friday night, only to see the same visual – empty streets and bars.

Now, one would think there would be more happening on a Saturday night of course, but not a sole could be seen.  I’ve noticed this hundreds of times before and have heard the same from others.  To investigate it a little, I spoke to a few people I know who work downtown.  They confirmed my recent observations and feelings.  They said that at 4:30 in the afternoon on a weekday, there is a mass exodus of business people.  They further said that only time people are downtown in the evening these days are to see an Indians, Cavaliers or Browns game.  I know we’re not Chicago, Dallas or LA, but you’d think the whole “Cleveland Rocks” persona would still have some attraction.  I mean, hey, we do have the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame here after all…

The most troubling aspect of this is the fact that the leadership of Cleveland is not responding.  Instead of worrying about business growth, they are more interested in installing red light cameras to catch speeders.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson recently announced a 10% cut on all expenses due to budget issues.  Surely, many cities are experiencing that.  However, I found it interesting that the Mayor’s expense cutting press conference came upon his return from a trip he took to Paris (on Cleveland’s dime) to work on business relations with them.  That’s interesting – our city is loosing businesses left and right, but you’d like to act strategic and work on increasing our relationship with Paris.  Why not start locally?

Or is the answer that Cleveland is not alone.  Ohio seems to be becoming the new California with legislation that is doing nothing but chase businesses out of the State.  The Ohio Healthy Families Act is an example.  Presented under the guise of helping families attend to sick family members, it is nothing other than a ploy to get more Democratic voters to the polls in November (if passed, it will only be a perk for the sponsors).  If this Act is passed, it could potentially devastate smaller businesses by forcing them to give people more paid time off.  Gambling is another problem in Ohio – well, the lack thereof.  The Governor recently made a big deal about getting Keno installed in bars and restaurants, saying that it could help generate roughly 65 million dollars.  Yet, this is the same Governor that was against casinos being built in our State – doing so while residents of Ohio leave to go to PA, IL, MI or Canada to gamble.  The casino proposal (that failed) in Cleveland could have brought hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to the area. 

I am tired of hearing about Cleveland City Council trying to get a new Convention Center here and arguing over the location.  It is clear that people aren’t coming here in the first place.  They probably need to work on that problem first.

I used to hear people say “only in California” on the news, but I’m starting to wonder if that will become “only in Ohio” before too long…

At one time or another, everyone has felt like – it’s going to be one of those weeks.  I’m dealing with that right now.  Too many incidents have occurred, so rather than talk about one, I decided to mention them all.

I often wonder if people, in general, are just getting meaner.  It seems to me that I encounter people everywhere with attitude problems.  I know it’s not me, so it has to be them, right?  Well, I don’t know.

Don’t get me wrong –I like to complain.  But the consistent theme among my posts has always been that I don’t go looking for trouble.  For example, I stopped at the local convenience store tonight to buy milk.  I am standing in line, minding my own business and I casually look over at the guy standing next to me in line.  This tough guy puffs up his chest and says “what are you looking at” to me.  He was a pretty big guy, so my response was “nothing” and I got out of there.  As I walked to my car, I wondered what that guy’s problem was.  Apparently his idea of a night out was picking a fight with me over some milk at the convenience store.

Yesterday, my daughter and I were driving home.  We pulled up to a traffic light and another car pulls up in the lane next to us.  This guy had loud and inappropriate music blaring.  Even with my windows closed and my radio on, I could still hear the profanity-laced music.  My daughter doesn’t know what that stuff is and I don’t want her to.  And I didn’t appreciate having to subject her to that, even if it was only for a minute.  My car was literally shaking because his music was so loud.  I just wondered why that is even necessary.  What point does it prove?  Does he think he is cool?  Does he think his bass is powerful?  What ticks me off is that he probably doesn’t care who he annoys with his actions.

One of my neighbors is making a big mistake.  There are already two houses for sale on our street and a few of us have been considering the same.  One of the houses for sale just sold.  Unfortunately, it was on the market for over one year.  The other has been for sale just as long.  Both were overpriced and have had considerable price decreases, but weren’t selling.  I suspect part of it is the market, however, in my own opinion, neither house was move-in ready.  Anyway, this guy a few houses down put his house up for sale at $40,000 more than the average house has sold for (on our street) in years.  I don’t know what he is thinking.  If a buyer ends up paying that amount, trust me, I will list my house tomorrow.  But it is never going to happen.  That house needs a lot of work and I just find myself wondering why he would decide to list it so far above the norm. It will never match any market comparisons and I would never believe it appraised at anything close to the amount he listed it for.  It’s as though he is willing to waste his realtor’s time, waste a potential buyer’s time, etc.  The price will inevitably come down and time will be lost.  And before you ask, the reason I care is because what he does affects the market (in this case – days on the market).

Maybe I’m feeling a little crabby, but I personally can’t wait for Friday to get here…

Here at The Constant Complainer, I offer the opportunity for people to contact me and submit Guest Posts.  I have several that will be released in upcoming weeks.  This one was submitted by a gentleman who wishes to be be referred to as Neo-Con Don.  Please enjoy and make sure you share your feedback with him.  Thanks…

A while back I was at an adult’s birthday party sitting with a group of friends and family discussing some of the issues of the day when the topic of teen pregnancy came up.  Having four children of my own, I like to listen to these types of conversations so I can get an idea of how other parents are dealing with the topic of teens and sex.  During the conversation, one of the mothers of a 15 year old girl proudly told everyone that she tells her daughter all the time that “she better not get pregnant.”  I have to tell you that I was floored when I heard that, and I’ll tell you why in a minute.  The conversation went on for a while, and I was amazed at some of the things I heard this mother say.  Next week, I’ll go into another part of the conversation.

Why did the mother telling her 15-year-old daughter that “she better not get pregnant” floor me? Because this mother should have been telling her 15-year-old daughter that “she better not be having sex,” and laying out a path that explains why. This mother had no clue of the amazing teaching opportunity she had and could possibly change the life of her child and her family tree. I have been noticing so many other strange ways to raise kids from the generation that this mother belonged to.

My wife is a middle school teacher, and a few years ago she was chaperoning an end of the year 8^th grade dance.  The DJ was playing all of the popular music, but they weren’t the edited versions – echoing through the gymnasium was “F-bomb” this and “N-word” that.  Some of the teachers asked the DJ if he needed to play this vulgar and racist music to children that weren’t even old enough to purchase it, and he said he couldn’t change it because that’s all he brought and this is what the kids like.  While this DJ was not hired again and the music played by the current DJ is age appropriate, there was no aggressive attempt to correct the situation while it was occurring. 

Here’s another great example: I attended the Tom Petty Concert last month, and there was a group of people hanging out with my group on the lawn.  We were pretty rowdy, and so were they.  I was enjoying a rare evening away from my children, listening to great music, and hanging out with a dear friend that had been away serving in the military. Our wives bore the burden of keeping us safe from ourselves and others.  The group next to us included a drunk 21 year old man, his drunk 19 year old brother, his drunk 18 year old girlfriend, and their drunk, stoned, and occasionally passed out 40 – something year old mother.  I realized she was the mother when I saw her in a very short, leopard colored dress, mid-thigh high heeled boots, and walking up the hill in the pouring rain carrying two 24-ounce beers.  I turned to the 19-year-old that I was chatting with and said, “oh my, look at that women.”  He said, “I know, that’s my mom, ain’t it cool?  We’re partying together.”

Let’s think about this for a minute.  We’re not talking about a parent sitting down and drinking a beer with their underage child.  This situation is not problematic because of the alcohol. This mother is destroying these children.  Not only does she have absolutely no respect for herself; she is teaching her children this lack of respect.  If this 19-year-old has no respect for his mother, how will he respect his wife?  What kind of man will he be?  What kind of father will he be?

I don’t want you to think that I believe the entire generation of baby boomers and children of the baby boomers are either going to be bad parents, or are bad parents. However, I do think that there are specific generational attributes that must be looked at.  When you think about the social atmosphere the baby boomers perpetuated in our country, we shouldn’t be surprised when some of the seeds of that generation sprout into bad apples; usually because the parents never learned how to behave. What I find interesting in all of these stories is that in every case, the child’s behavior is simply a product of a bad parenting decision. So many parents these days are trying to be their child’s friend that they are allowing them to engage in destructive behavior in a “controlled” environment, and then try to protect them from the bad results. Take a parent that allows their high school age child to have a drinking party in their home.  The parent does this because they “know” their child is going to drink anyway and simply wants to avoid the possibility of their child drinking and driving.  This is an example of being the child’s friend, and not their parent.  Wouldn’t it be more responsible to create an environment where the child doesn’t have the opportunity to drink alcohol, or is so frightened by the consequences of getting caught that they simply don’t do it?  How can we call a mother responsible if she takes her 15-year-old daughter for birth control because she knows the child is going to have sex anyway?  That child should be told to not have sex, and to have the positive reasons why she shouldn’t have sex at age 15 explained to her constantly.  Just simply saying “she’s going to do it” undermines the reputation of the child and proves the parent has a low opinion of her child. How is it responsible for a mother to give her underage children alcohol and then proceed to get drunk herself and force her underage drunk children to take care of her?  If the mother doesn’t respect herself, the child will never respect the mother.

It is time to stop being best friends with our children. It is time to become their parents again and to begin to demand that they listen to us and begin to follow our rules or face the consequences.  There is nothing wrong with helping your children, but constantly bailing them out will simply transfer their dependence from you to the government upon your death.  Giving them a Blue Ribbon regardless of their results won’t help them become responsible adults, spouses, and parents. Be their parent while you are raising them, and they will respect you.  You will have plenty of time to be their friend…assuming you’ve done your job.

I’ve made the comment before that either I am extremely detail oriented or strange things just seem to happen to me.  In this case, the incident that occurred wasn’t just happening to me, but I was accused of being the only one to actually complain about it.

When it comes to ironing verses dry cleaning, I’m happy to pay to get my shirts and slacks professionally dry cleaned.  I’ve felt that way for years.

In this case, I needed some new dress shirts, so I picked them up at the local department store, came home, threw them in the dry cleaning pile and dropped them off the next day.  A few days later when I picked them up from the dry cleaner and brought them home, I happened to notice a problem.  In addition to the tag (with the dry cleaning identification number on it) that was plastic stapled to my shirts, my telephone number (complete with area code) was written in permanent black marker on the inside tail of both new dress shirts.  My initial reaction was to check the rest of my dress shirts, since I consistently use the same dry cleaner.  Sure enough, every single one of them had my telephone number written on the inside tail with permanent black marker.

I wouldn’t be The Constant Complainer if I didn’t stir the pot every now and then.  So I called the dry cleaner and asked why they felt the need to deface my personal property.  They told me that it is a secondary measure used to identify articles of clothing if the plastic (stapled) tag falls off.  They further told me that in all their years of being in business, nobody had ever complained about it.  I find that hard to believe.  But anyway, I told them that these were brand new shirts and now I considered them ruined (maybe that was harsh, but I was upset).  I then said that I expected to be reimbursed for the ruined shirts.  I was told that I would have to talk to the Owner, which I did.  He explained the same thing that the clerk did and then told me that every dry cleaner in the business uses this strategy.  My argument, admittedly weak, was that these were new shirts.  I further questioned what would have happened if I had a relative staying with me and I was getting their clothes dry cleaned.  Hey, like I said, I know it was a weak argument, but as they say, I had already dug in my heels.

The Owner refused to pay for my shirts, which I didn’t expect him to do anyway.  However, he did agree to mark my file to not have any shirts, pants or suit coats written on with marker anymore.  Out of pure morbid curiosity, I ended up calling four other dry cleaners to see if they used this practice or not.  One admitted that they wrote on the clothes as a secondary measure and the other three said they used other methods.

I refuse to believe that I am the only person to ever complain about this practice.  Maybe I was overly excited about my new shirts.  Maybe I was thinking long-term, like if I later donated the shirts and didn’t want my telephone number on them.  Or maybe I was thinking more about my telephone number, which I might add – is unlisted.  In the end, this dry cleaner has good prices and has only lost one of my shirts in six years, so I decided to keep giving them my business…

I am a good father.  I’ve often been told that.  My family always comes first.  It doesn’t matter if it is making time to go to the park, making dinner, cleaning up or reading a book at night; I’m very involved.  And I love every minute of it.  Seeing my daughter smile, laugh and have fun fills me with joy.  And maybe that’s why things like what I’m about to mention upset me so much.

I’ve often wondered about the theory that kids are products of their environment and that they more than likely will turn out exactly like their parents (whether they want to or not).   If that’s true, I wonder what will become of these kids I encountered the other day.

First, I was visiting an office to quickly pay a bill.  As I was walking in, a woman was struggling with a small child in the lobby.  The kid seemed to be misbehaving and appeared to be trying to leave through the door.  The woman grabbed him, tossed him around and threw him into a chair.  I saw him grab his leg in pain and heard him say something like: mom, you hurt my knee.  I am not exaggerating when I say that she threw him down.  It was one of those times when you do a double-take because you can’t believe your eyes.  What was I supposed to do in that situation?  I kept walking, but should I have said something?  Most people would probably say no and that I should have minded my own business.

After paying the bill, I met a friend for lunch.  The table next to us was pretty loud and I could tell the father was becoming increasingly irritated with his kids.  At one point, he completely lost his cool and screamed at his boy – to the point that the kid was reduced to tears.  It appeared to us that all the kid wanted to do was move over to the other seat to sit on his mother’s lap.  Was the dad just having a bad day?

That night I stopped at the grocery store.  As I’m walking down the aisle, I saw a woman walking with a cart and three kids.  The woman is holding a baby bottle in her hand, and the baby in the cart keeps trying to grab it.  The woman says to the baby: “don’t grab it again, I’m warning you.”  At the same time, she holds her hand up (simulating that she planned to slap the child).  The baby tried to grab the bottle and she slapped the baby twice very hard on the hand.  The child started screaming.

Now I’m not saying that I’m the greatest role model ever.  I don’t strike my child though, and that’s my choice.  But of course I do get upset on occasion.  What parent doesn’t?

I suspect you might say that I cannot completely judge the above-mentioned situations, because I only saw snapshots of them.  However, I felt like I had seen enough and what I did see bothered me immensely.  Being a parent takes enormous patience and understanding.  There have been times where I have been furious about something, but just taking one look at my daughter’s sweet, innocent and cute face made all of it go away.  It’s called parenting and unconditional love.  Yes, you can get upset, but it’s about being a role model, leadership, understanding and (sometimes) discipline.

I guess I just wonder if some kids even have a chance.  Clearly, some don’t and that’s a shame.  I’m sure we all know people who probably shouldn’t be parents.  Unfortunately, that too is out of our control.  What keeps me up at night is the painful fact that some kids might have been better off not being born, considering the situations they are in.  That’s difficult to write about, but even harder to accept.

I’ve often said that I am either the most detailed person in the world (and I don’t miss a thing) or strange things just seem to happen around me.

Don’t get me wrong, even as The Constant Complainer, I never go anywhere looking for trouble.  But here’s a good example of what happens to me, even when I try to do the right thing.

Recently, I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. for a conference.  Upon arriving, the weather was horrible.  It was one of the worst storms I had seen in recent memory.  In fact, it was raining so hard, that when I got to the hotel, water was literally flooding into the lobby.  As I walked in, I had my briefcase in one hand and my suitcase in the other.  I noticed that one of the hotel’s large rugs was out of sorts and wrinkled.  I did a side-step because I was carrying my bags and didn’t want to trip.  I didn’t trip or fall and went on with the rest of my trip.

After I checked out and got home, I received an electronic customer service survey regarding my hotel stay.  I filled it out, and in the area where I could offer additional comments, I said something like: there were no wet floor signs in the lobby, it was wet and I could have fallen (referring to my incident of almost tripping over the rug).  I have risk management training and was trying to make a helpful suggestion to them.

Surprisingly, the hotel manager contacted me the next day.  He asked specifically about my comment and inquired if I had fallen.  I said no, but explained how I could have.  I further explained how I was trying to help him out based on my observations as a customer.  He thanked me and we hung up.

Two days later, I received a call from a representative of the hotel’s risk management department.  He said he was following-up on my conversation with the hotel manager.  He then stated that he was calling about my “fall” and my “injury.”  I explained everything once again – I wasn’t injured, didn’t fall and was simply trying to keep them from ending up with a trip and fall lawsuit from someone else.  The guy then said something like: well, sir, we have an open claim now because you said the word “fall.”  This is how the rest of the conversation went:

Me:                  I didn’t fall.

Risk Guy:         You said fall.

Me:                  So what do you want me to do?

Risk Guy:         We need to close the claim out.

Me:                  What, you want to give me money?

Risk Guy:         Well, yeah.

Me:                  But I didn’t fall and I’m fine.

Risk Guy:         Sir, this is an open claim.

Me:                  How much do you want to give me?

Risk Guy:         $_____.

Me:                  Fine, send over the paperwork and I’ll sign it.

They paid me to go away!  At first I thought, how pathetic, I was trying to help them out.  But a friend who owns a restaurant helped me put this into perspective.  He told me this stuff happens all the time: slips, trips, falls, product liability, allegations, attorneys, etc.  We live in a very litigious society.  He said no company wants to take a case like this to court.  So the companies reduce their liability, involve their insurance companies and settle the claims quickly and cheaply.

So in my case, they had me sign a waiver and in their eyes, they prevented me from later saying that I did fall and hurt myself.  I can understand that.  But now, everytime I see one of their hotels, I ask myself why I even tried to give them helpful advice in the first place..

I’d like to tell you a true story about a young boy.  This boy was at a Cub Scout event and was playing capture the flag.  He accidentally got tackled and hurt his right hip.  It was sore, but he kept playing with his friends.  He went home and told his parents that he hurt his leg.

The boy’s parents called his pediatrician the next morning.  The boy went in for an appointment.  The doctor checked him out, did some mobility tests and declared the injury to be a pulled muscle.  She indicated the boy would be fine in a few weeks.  No x-rays or prescriptions needed!  Excellent, the boy thought.  He had two more baseball games upcoming.

The first game was later that week. At that game, the boy was the pitcher and played the game of his life – sore leg and all.  He pitched nearly the entire game, but unfortunately had to be removed due to his leg pain.  The boy tried to ice his leg that following week.  He took it easy and tried to help the muscle pull heal in time for the next game.

The next game day arrived and the boy was playing first base.  He was visibly still in pain, but he kept playing.  In the last inning, he was up to bat and hit a ground ball.  As he tried to run to first base, his hip was so sore that he couldn’t.  A parent in the stands, angry that the boy seemed to be walking to first base, yelled out “he can barely run, take him out” and several other parents (fans) agreed.  The boy’s father was sitting there and heard this.  He decided right then and there to take the boy to the emergency room.

At the hospital, an orthopedic surgeon determined that the boy had actually broken his hip playing capture the flag at Cub Scouts.  But he didn’t realize it.  And his pediatrician had misdiagnosed him because the tests she ran were inadequate.

That 13 year old boy was me.

You know, 20 years later, not a day goes by when I don’t think about how my life was changed forever due to this injury and the doctor’s misdiagnosis.  My hip was not only broken, but playing baseball and two weeks of day-to-day activities had irreparably damaged my leg permanently.

I had to have two hip surgeries and one knee surgery.  I was on crutches for six months and had to use a cane for three months.  To this day I have back pain because my leg’s growth was stunted.  Now I walk off-balance, I have to wear special inserts in my shoes and I see a chiropractor regularly.

This happened 20 years ago.  I suspect had this happened in 2008, my parents probably could have sued the pediatrician, the Cub Scouts, the orthopedic surgeon or the kid that tackled me.  However, back in the 80’s, we just accepted the doctor’s mistake and moved on.  But like I said, not a day goes by when I don’t think about what happened.

The reason this is on my mind is because I recently wondered if that same pediatrician was still practicing medicine.  So I made a few calls.  Not only is she still practicing medicine, but she is still at that exact same office.  Irrationally thinking, of course I just want to call her and scream at her – as a thank you for 20 years of hip, knee and back pain.  In the same breath though, I feel the time is well overdue to let it go.  I’m sure her answer would be that she did the tests she thought she should have back then.  Or maybe I should have gone to the emergency room when I was first injured.  I didn’t think I needed to.  I was a young kid and thought I could walk it off.  To this day I wonder how I walked around and played baseball with a broken hip.  It seems unheard of, but it happened.

I guess what ticks me off is that I’m just another statistic in the area of medical malpractice.  But that doesn’t easy my pain any – that’s for sure.