Prof. Farooq Kperogi, please I have a few questions about America which, I hope, you will enlighten me on.
In 2008, I was travelling to the US to attend the NAB Radio Show, which was taking place at Austin, Texas. I took a KLM flight from Lagos to Amsterdam. From there I joined a connecting flight on Northwest Airline from Amsterdam to Detroit. It was on another flight from Detroit to Austin that I became very sick. Fever got hold of me and I was shivering with cold. So I requested for Panadol from the Air Hostess to relieve the pain, but she couldn't understand what Panadol was. In the end, I requested for Aspirin, which she immediately brought to me.
My question is, don't they have Panadol in the US or was it the way I pronounced it that made her misunderstand me?
The second episode happened in Austin, Texas, my final destination. I went to a hospital near my hotel the following day. I don't know whether it was a private or government hospital and I can't recall the name now. But I was diagnosed with Flu. All the doctors and hospital staff were very surprised that they got someone suffering from Flu and especially at that time of the year (It was in April, I think). I suddenly became a case study. People started gathering and were asking me questions. They wanted to know from which country I came and whether it was a common ailment there. They said it wasn't common there. Does this mean the US has eradicated Flu?
Thirdly, after I was examined, before the prescription of drugs, my bill came down to about $800. I looked at the Doctor and told him to forget it as I didn't have that kind of money. He told me not to worry that there was some kind of arrangement to help anyone who couldn't pay. He asked how much I could afford and I said I could pay $200. He said would that be comfortable for me, I said yes. My question here is do you know what kind of arrangement that is?