Monday, August 6, 2012

Pretty Glad To Be Living Today!

I was watching televison the other night and a commercial came on regarding legal representation for individuals who had been taking a certain drug and had adverse, and sometimes fatal, results.

This made me pause to wonder about my great-grandparents, and those before them, who may have been exposed to such things. [Snake oil salesmen, etc.] Those fabulous "cure-all's" of the 19th century. I can only imagine the agony some people indured, expecting to be cured of all manner of ailment, only to have to suffer.

And then I thought about my grandparents. Two were born in the 1800's, and two slightly after the turn of the century. My Grandpa Dreher was a carpenter. He built houses, and was a master cabinet maker. What kind of materials was he exposed to?

I see ads and commercials for mesothelioma lawyers and wonder if my Grandpa was exposed to asbestos when building?

I know my Dad was exposed to asbestos while in the Navy, and has received a compensatory disability for the asbestosis he suffers from.

I was exposed, years ago, while working for the State, but suffered no ill effects, so I nevered required a mesothelioma lawyer .

But what happened to individuals prior to the massive onslaught of lawsuits and restitution? How many individuals in our Nation's history have suffered?

I suppose one will never know. Can you imagine Grandpa at the turn of the century calling up a mesothelioma lawyer asking for advice? It simply wasn't done then.

I know my grandparents pretty much believed in taking care of themselves. Shunning doctors and lawyers as much as possible.

Times have certainly changed. With my medical problems... I for one am glad to be living today rather than a hundred years ago!

1 comment:

Joan said...

I came across a Lancashire directory for the town of Bolton and in it was listed my 5x great grandfather Joseph Burn. He was listed as a basket & skip(big industrial basket) maker, and vendor of snake oil. Now that gave me a jolt. I had always heard of him as a "chemist" or apocothecary" --- not a vendor of snake oil. Then I got to wondering --- was that a legitimate "business/service" in those days?? The little research that I did on the subject was inconclusive. Might have to go back to that one day.