The RT Cave is living 20 years in the past

You know what I also think is cool is free music downloads off the Internet. I've always been sort of frivolous my whole life, and have found better things to spend my money on than music. Not that I don't like music.

When I was in college, nearly 20 years ago, my friends all had CD and stereo players, while all I had was a few tapes of my favorite artists. It was during those few years that, probably while having a few drinks, I discovered music.

All my friends were from Big City, and their tastes in music seemed to be different from us small town folk. In fact, even what they wore seemed to be, well, twenty years ahead of us. They always joked with me that I was 20 years behind the times, which was probably true. I told them I preferred it that way.

But they were still cool. And we still had lots of cool times, especially when we pulled out their CDs to listen to cool tunes. And usually after we had been drinking, and were drunk, we'd pull out Pink Floyd. That was so cool listening to with a good buzz. Probably the only thing better would be Bob Dylin, of which neither of them had.

Those good years of college lasted only 2 years before we parted ways. I never saw those chaps again. I lost complete contact until the advent of the Internet. And I lost complete contact with Pink Floyd and all that great music until the advent of free downloads on the Internet.

So I listened to Floyd, and did a search on the net for my old pals. I found them. That was so cool after 20 years. We were all journalists back then. I almost didn't click on the link to the law firm. None of my friends were lawyers, I thought. Fritz was. How cool.

Ray didn't change at all. He was working for his parent's factory. That's what Fritz and I figured he'd turn out as, despite four years of college -- er, partying. I don't think he ever changed. Cool. Now he lives a few blocks from the Major League baseball team. Cool. Probably still partying, but listening to 2007 tunes -- tunes we'll discover in 2027.

Ray sent me an email: "After all these years you're still listening to Floyd."

"No," I wrote back. "We live in a small town here, remember. We are 20 years behind you guys in the Big City. We are just discovering Pink Floyd here. What you guys showed me back in the 80s was a glimpse of future music. And it's pretty cool."

And now, while I listen to Dylan classics I heard about but never listened to before (it's so cool discovering old classics), I'm thinking how true it is that we are 20 years behind here in small towns.

It's a lot less stressful, living in the past that is. I suppose it's easier for us if we let you guys experiment with the new stuff. You'll reap the rewards of what works, but you'll have to suffer with what doesn't. I think we small city folk like it that way. We tend to be more conservative. We like to avoid all that stress

And, to relate this to respiratory therapy, it's true in our hospitals too.

Think about it. In the Big City hospital that old BiPap machine has been in the back of the closet collecting dust for about 20 years now. We have only recently stopped using it. The same is true with those bulky mist tents. And, while the Big City hospital has been enjoying protocols for a while now, we are still being controlled by doctors.

However they are just starting to show signs of giving up some of that autonomy. It's so cool. And we RTs appreciate it. Well, most of us do anyway.

I wonder when it was that protocols first became the thing at Big City hospitals. Whenever that time was, just calculate 20 years later, and that's when we'll catch up with you guys. Until then, we'll enjoy the past.

Perhaps these free music downloads will allow me to listen to the same music of the Big City folk. I doubt it though. So, whatever you guys listen to in the big city, about 20 years later we'll catch up.