In the afternoon, Allen came to pick up Dai Li to his training ground as usual.
If he hadn't been with Allen, Dai Li would never have dared to go to that black neighborhood alone.
It's just that Allen's mood seems a bit low today.
"Alan, what's wrong with you? Are you sick? You look downcast." Dai Li asked.
"Lee, I'm leaving Los Angeles in a few days." Allen said
"Are you going back to Virginia?" Dai Li then asked, "Things going to college are not going well?"
Allen nodded: "My mother searched all the famous schools in California, but no school wanted me. They didn't even give me a chance to try out."
"Then what are you going to do?" Dai Li then asked.
"Go back east and try your luck in Massachusetts to see if there is a second-rate school willing to provide me with a scholarship." Allen sighed, and then said: "Stop talking about these troublesome things, let's go Let’s go to the mall first and buy some things. If you get there late, the mall will be closed.”
"What do you want to buy? Are there any discounts recently?" Dai Li asked.
After coming to the United States for a few days, Dai Li also learned more or less about American culture. Americans' consumption is actually very rational. For the vast majority of Americans, they prefer to go shopping when there is a discount in the mall. If there are promotions in shopping malls, they will definitely attract a lot of customers, and during Christmas sales such as "Black Friday", many Americans will take advantage of the bargains and buy things for several months or even a year.
"There's no discount." Allen continued: "I'm going to buy a set of Barbie dolls."
"Barbie doll? Isn't that something girls like?" Li Dai didn't expect that Allen would be okay with this.
"Don't think blindly. I bought it for my sister. I promised her that I would bring him a gift back." Allen said.
"You have a sister, I've never heard of you talking about it." Dai Li asked in surprise.
Allen nodded, took out his phone, and found a photo. In the photo, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl was standing on Allen's left, with a three- or four-year-old girl in his arms.
"This is my sister Brandi, she just entered high school; this is my little sister Lisa, she is only four years old this year. The Barbie doll was bought for Lisa." Allen explained.
"Your sister is very cute." Dai Li gave a symbolic compliment.
"She is pitiful, she suffers from congenital heart disease." There was a melancholy in Allen's eyes.
Dai Li thought about it before he understood the term "congenital heart disease".
So Li Dai asked: "Isn't this disease difficult to treat?"
"Yes, the doctor said that without surgery, Lisa can only live for more than ten years." Allen clenched his fist in pain.
Allen let out a long sigh, and then said: "My mother was only fifteen years old when she was pregnant with me. Not long after she gave birth to me, my biological father left us. Later, my mother met my adoptive father again, and the remaining My two sisters."
Dai Li nodded. This situation is very common in the United States, especially among the black community.
"My adoptive father is a good man who really wanted to support the family. However, because he had a drug trafficking record and was often in jail, he never found a stable job, and my mother only did odd jobs here and there. At that time, we The environment where we live is terrible. We can't pay the electricity bill, so we often have power outages; we can't afford food, so we often go hungry; we can't pay the water bill, and sometimes we don't even have water to drink; we even get kicked out because we can't pay the rent. The landlord kicked them out and left them sleeping on the street.”
Dai Li nodded. He had also read some reports about the slums and could imagine how difficult Allen's childhood was.
"My little sister Lisa has been in poor health since she was a child, and she was diagnosed with congenital heart disease not long ago. Lisa has no insurance, and we can't afford medical insurance, let alone have money for Lisa's surgery!" Allen Her voice was very low: "Besides, Lisa is relatively young. Only experts from the high-end medical center can perform the surgery, so the chance of success of the operation will be higher, which will cost a lot of money."
In the United States, the lack of medical insurance means that even a minor illness will be a heavy burden. And many poor families in the United States cannot afford health insurance.
Prescription drugs, examination fees and surgical fees in the United States are all astonishingly expensive. A blood test costs more than 100 US dollars. Calling an ambulance may cost more than 1,000 US dollars. A trip to the hospital for appendicectomy may cost 40,000 to 50,000 US dollars. The bill came; for a caesarean section, a bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars was normal. Without medical insurance, ordinary working-class people would really be unable to afford it.
Moreover, Americans do not have the habit of saving. Whether they are buying large items or small items, they are accustomed to using credit cards and spending tomorrow's money today. If they suddenly encounter a disease at this time, they may go bankrupt directly.
In the United States, the only thing you have to do to see a doctor in a public hospital is to "wait." Although the prices in public hospitals are cheap, you have to wait two or three months to make an appointment for the most common examination. Many people are waiting. The disease will get worse or it will get better on its own.
Even in the emergency room, it's normal to wait all night without anyone paying attention to you. Doctors only deal with critically ill patients and don't bother to pay attention to you. Compared with China, when he registers in the morning, he can see a doctor, and the results of today's examination will be available tomorrow. Ordinary chronic diseases go to the emergency room for treatment. This is completely impossible in public hospitals in the United States.
Moreover, the most skilled doctors in the United States are all in private hospitals. Many medical centers with a research nature are filled with medical experts. The quality of doctors in private hospitals is higher than that in public hospitals, but the prices in private hospitals are also better. The advantage is that as long as you are willing to pay, you can see a doctor on the same day.
Medical treatment in private hospitals in the United States can also be reimbursed. The key depends on what kind of insurance you have. There are agreements between insurance companies and hospitals. With relatively expensive medical insurance, you can even enjoy VIP treatment in top private hospitals.
Just listen to Allen continue to say: "The question is, Lisa does not have medical insurance, so if she needs surgery, it will cost millions of dollars in surgery fees. Under normal circumstances, we cannot make so much money at all, so the only way is, I become a professional player, whether I go to the NFL or the NBA, as long as I can become a star, I will have money to treat my sister! If I can't become a star, Lisa will die... "
"I was really stupid. If I hadn't gotten into that fight, maybe I could have gone to the NFL and continued to play football. Those college coaches wouldn't have shut me out like they did now. I could have found a guy. A good university provided me with a scholarship... I really did a stupid thing." Allen shook his head and then said: "So, I swear, I will never fight again!"