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Bakersfield
By Milt Abel | May 25, 2008
| May 25, 2008May 7, 2008, Bakersfield
On my way to Honolulu I was able to squeeze in a lunchtime performance for a managed health care provider in Bakersfield, CA. I flew from my home airport down to LAX at the crack of, well, saying ‘crack of dawn’ would be implying far deeper into the day than I was actually operating. Dawn happened while I was in the air, after the packing, breakfast, the drive, and the 90 extra minutes at the airport needed these days to put all your liquids in 2.oz containers and then set those inside a clear bag. Honestly, the things you have to do these days to get on a plane, they should offer a diploma upon boarding.
Bakersfield, California is a hot, featureless town set in the hot, featureless San Juaquin Valley. Locals call their city ‘The Bake’ and regard non-locals who stop beyond asking for directions with a look of mild disbelief, an expression that says, “Why did come here? What’s wrong?”
I came to do a thirty-minute set in front of some very nice people. They were all in the healthcare industry, of the two-hundred and forty there some were in administration, others on the front line dealing with the whole range; hypochondriacs to the terminal. Bless them; it’s not always easy to tell the two of those apart. I mentioned to a table companion that I had recently read doctors had one of the highest suicide rates of any profession; his expression turned dark and distantly quiet. I don’t think he was a doctor himself, but an administrator, and it couldn’t be an easy statistic to bear. Perhaps they insured the doctors too. Most likely not, but re-staffing is always depressing unless you manage at a Hooters.
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