justice

In class today, my professor gave an offhand example of the power of the size of the market, that still has me thinking.

Imagine that your significant other has just been diagnosed with an extremely rare debilitating disease that only affects about a 1000 people a year around the world. For you and yours, finding the cure for this affliction is paramount. Even a drug to treat the symptoms would be preferable to nothing. Fortunately, a compound X has been discovered that will dramatically improve the patient's condition.

But what incentive does the pharmaceutical company have to create this medicine? The amount of time and money that goes into researching and developming a new drug is non-trivial. Add in the costs of patents, and you begin to see why the pharmas make sure to fully research the potential of the market before launching a new product.

If the disease that your loved one has is only shared by 999 other people, how is the pharma company going to recoup their costs? There's simply not enough sales volume, and therefore, drug X will never get produced. Not until, that is, this disease suddenly goes from affecting 1000 people to 1,000,000. Or perhaps even that isn't high enough.

How many people have to suffer before drug X will prove profitable enough to produce? Will it ever happen? Sad to say, not necessarily.

driving

On my daily route back home from school, I have to take a single lane road that's fairly curvy and gets backed up at rush hour. Today, like most days, I turned the corner, and waited as the snake of cars inched forward. I noticed that I was about to come up to the entrance for the bank on my right, and there was a string of cars trying to get out.

Car after car in front of me crept forward, without a single driver making room for those marooned in the bank's parking lot. Feeling the effects of the sunshine we've been having, I decided to be generous and let the mother in the silver minvan pull out in front of me.

As I passed the parking lot, I watched in my rearview mirror as the next 5 cars behind me each let someone out until the lot was empty. Who knows, those 5 drivers behind me might have let the cars out anyways, but I like to think that my example had a little something to do with it. :)

stark

Pulling up to the stop light, I noticed him right away. The gaunt, bent-over frame holding a cardboard sign was hard to miss, especially at the corner of a busy intersection not known for its foot traffic. "Unemployed carpenter. Tired and hungry, " his sign read. From two lanes away, I watched as he poured water from a fast food cup onto his dirty rag and tried to wash away the stickiness of the day from his face and neck.

Suddenly my view was blocked by a sexy silver convertible that pulled into the lane between us. With his music blaring, the driver, a young man with designer shades, turned to glance at the homeless man. Immediately, he turned back to face the front, picked up his iPod, and fiddled with it just long enough for the light to change.

The light finally turned green, and as we both drove away, I was left wanting to somehow right the wrong that didn't really exist.

simple

Deftly maneuvering my small dinged up car into a tight parking space, I pause to briefly savor the last grain of salt on my meal of french fries before reaching to turn off the ignition. My ears take a moment to adjust to the absence of the blaring radio. A faint melody teases me with its unrecognizability. My eyes dart back to the lights of the dash. No, that's off. The cell phone? Wrong song. My mind races to do a quick check of other devices that might emit such a sound. I start to panic as I realize that none of them are responsible for the tune. Has it finally happened? Can I no longer distinguish between the music in my head and reality?

Taking a breath of fresh crisp air as I step out of the car, I notice my surroundings. A kid no older than 8 bikes down the sidewalk. Some homes have welcome mats in front of their doors. The lawns look well cared for and the flowers are in full bloom. Just as suburbia registers, I realize I've forgotten my youth and the joys of that sound: the song of the ice cream truck that finally comes into view.