Entry 9:

Hello, Alexander,

The papers all report this morning that waiting lists for hospital treatment rose by 36,000 people last month, so that currently some 1,108,000 Britons are waiting for non-emergency tests and operations--everything from diagnostic ultrasounds to heart operations. I'm always astounded by these figures (there I go, being astounded again) and by the idea that the people of Britain do not rise up as one and demand an end to what seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Not to mention that when you wait for treatment, your condition often gets worse so that you do become an emergency case, and end up needing more serious and more expensive treatment.

Occasionally, some newspaper or other gets upset about the length of the waiting lists, particularly when it's angry at the government and wants to emphasize its failings, but I've never seen a wholesale questioning of the fact of waiting lists in the first place. I'm not necessarily surprised--the need to wait has been a fact of life for the 50 years the National Health Service has been in existence--but I wonder when enough is finally going to be enough. It strikes me that with a new generation coming along that's much more demanding, and much more health-conscious, than previous generations, the system won't be able to go on as it has. What do you think? Have you had to wait for hospital treatment, and has that made you furious, or sicker?

A lot of people I know here seem not to care at all about their health, smoking and drinking with abandon in ways that would get them ostracized, or arrested, in America these days. Of course, it's a refreshing alternative to my New York-bred obsession with every tiny thing to do with my physical condition. It's stupid to think you have cancer all the time, just because your foot hurts or your throat is sore. But I worry that a lot of my friends who are walking around looking more or less fine, if a little worse for wear from all the wine and song, will one day suddenly drop dead, just like that.

What do you make of the Academy Award nominations? Why are they on the front page of most of the papers--including the Times and the Telegraph--when only five Britons got nominated for acting or directing awards, and when they are awarded 8,000 miles away (or however far away Hollywood is?).

xxx sarah

P.S. Have you been noticing, from your lonely basement, how sunny and cheery it's been for the last few mornings? If the disgruntled Afghan hostage were still here, perhaps he wouldn't have been so quick to feel so depressed. Maybe we could get him to come back.