Dan’s Papers November 12, 2010 danshamptons.com Page 15
Safari They’re Fixing the Roads this Month; It’s Not What You Think By Dan Rattiner So here is what I think happened here in the Hamptons to our beloved Montauk Highway. In late 2007, the bottom fell out of the economy. Money dried up. Highway Department workmen were laid off. Nobody fixed the potholes. You cannot dispute that nobody fixed the potholes. By the end of 2008, the road was so bad that cars coming down it bounced around, blew out springs and shocks and sometimes got bounced into the air and even spun out of control. The Montauk Highway is a State Road. It is the only state road running through the Hamptons, and since our back roads were in pretty good shape, it was pretty easy to come to the conclusion that the cuts up in Albany were so Draconian as to cause them to turn a blind eye to safety. During 2008, you may recall, our beloved President Obama announced plans to employ
millions of laborers on projects around the country. He called the program “Shovel Ready.” The shovels were ready. Nothing happened with the Montauk Highway. Or anywhere else as near as I could see. Some time in early 2009, the people of the East End could take the Montauk Highway situation no more. Local officials were called. This is not a regular newspaper, so I don’t know the ins and outs of this. But by March of 2009, there were workmen out on the Montauk Highway filling in the potholes with what appeared to me to be black silly putty. It did a pretty good job. But it was a patchy, sloppy job. My thinking was that the State, which was now desperate to balance its budget, had simply thrown up its hands at the situation—they shut the Stony Brook Southampton College and a $65 million investment at that time as you know—and said something like we’re up here in Albany and it’s not our problem. And so our local town and village
highway departments took up the cudgels to do the job for the State. It was just one more road after all. They were doing pretty good with the rest of the roads. They had lots of silly putty. And if the Minutemen could come out of the woodwork to fight off the British Redcoats, then surely our local guys could fix up a bit what the State could not. Then, about a month ago, just before the November election, President Obama made a speech where he mumbled something about learning the hard way that there was no such thing as “shovel ready” in America though he surely had tried. By the way, and I will digress a bit here, I have to say I know how Obama could have retained control of the House of Representatives. In May, just after he laid off five million temporary census workers—which resulted in a big bump up of (continued on next page)
LIVING ALONE WITH BACK PAIN WITHOUT HELP By Dan Rattiner Last fall my back went out. It went out because I drive the Montauk Highway every day and it just gave up from banging through the potholes. It was pretty bad. I began to take the back roads whenever possible, but it was impossible to avoid the highway completely. What should I do? Sue the State for negligence? Would that help my back? In February, I finally had an MRI of my back. I showed the report to my family doctor. He said I had a slipped disk in my lower back and, next to it, a bulging disk. “Make an appointment to see Dr. Raphael Davis in Stony Brook,” he said. “He’s a neurosurgeon. But don’t let the word ‘surgeon’ scare you. There’s other things to do before you get to that.” I asked him if it was possible this situation
could go away. He said it sometimes happens, but more likely I would just have to learn to live with it. In April I called Dr. Davis. He did keep hours in a Riverhead office, so it would not be necessary for me to endure a painful 50-mile drive to Stony Brook. But he was booked well into the future. He had an opening on October 13 at 2:15 pm. I was astounded. But I made the appointment. I also endeavored to try to make appointments with other doctors. All had three or four month waiting lists. Back pain was an epidemic, not just in the Hamptons, but everywhere. Everybody has a back problem, it seems. What to do in the meantime? I went to physical therapy. They gave me stretches to do to relieve the pain and strengthen the muscles
around my spine. I also bought a medical girdle to wear around my middle when I drove. It helped. I found positions lying down that would relieve the pain. But I was still for the most part in agony. What bothered me most about this was the very long wait. I had obtained a DVD of the MRI. Any doctor could look at it. But only an orthopedist would. And I could not find a neurosurgeon or neurologist to do so. I imagined there would be two possibilities. One: “My God you need to go into surgery before the end of the day.” Two: “This is not so bad. We’ll deal with it.” Which was it? I would learn in October. Three days before the appointment, I got a phone call from Dr. Davis’ office asking for my insurance information and reminding me of my (continued on page 20)