When tie-dyed t-shirts, dirty long hair and love beads were in fashion, another trend was complaining about "The Man." Whoever this man was, the government, the business establishment, adults in general, he could be, and was, held responsible for whatever problems or woes were bothering these young free thinkers. The Man soon became a player in the world of television. On a crime drama, when the law cornered a street informant or criminal on some dark street or shadowy alley, a common exchange would include one of these down-and-outers making a reference to "The Man." This Man might be the neighborhood drug lord or thug master, or just life in general, and the problems that kept one down. No one seemed to like The Man, and yet The Man was nothing if not dependable, always standing by, handy and ready, to be blamed for whatever a person didn't want to face or take responsibility for.

I've never actually met anyone who was on familiar terms with The Man. I was in elementary school when hippies first bloomed onto the scene. As I I grew older and my territory expanded, I didn't frequent shadowy alleys where I might have heard someone refer to The Man in real life for myself. But I know The Man still exists. And he's everywhere. Only now he's called The System.

Do you know The System? The System is the reason you can't get your mother's medicare D insurance figured out because The System does not show processing your power-of-attorney to act in her behalf, and The System also does not have your address as the correct mailing address, even though you have talked to three people about it and filed the form twice. The System is the reason you keep getting late charges on your credit card bill, even though you paid up months ago. The System is the reason your own insurance says they won't pay your medical bills because you have a coinsurance, even though you don't and never have. The System is the reason you have received several months of bills, dunning statements, and no doubt a hit to your credit rating, because even though you signed up for satellite television for the NFL season only, The System says you agreed to a 12-month contract. The System is always right, and The System demands complete obedience.

I have not taken what I believe to be complete and total injustices conferred upon me by The System lying down. Striking a blow against The System is difficult, though, because it is very powerful, and elusive. I tried recently.

"I'm sorry," I said to the insurance phone rep who was telling me, as several others had before, that I was not approved to talk about my 90-year-old mother's medical bills, according to The System. "I know that you didn't design the system, but you can't put off problems on The System as if it is some separate entity and has nothing to do with you. You are THE SYSTEM! It is YOUR COMPANY'S SYSTEM. I set up this insurance coverage. Every single communication you have had about this insurance coverage, by phone, by FAX, and by mail has been with me. You have never talked to my 90-year-old mother. You never will. You have my power of attorney to act in her behalf and the address notification that says you should send all correspondence to me, which you are not. I have done EVERY SINGLE THING you have asked me to do and yet, weeks later, you still tell me you can't even talk to me about my mother's policy or her medical bills. I am competent and of sound-mind (okay I didn't actually say that, but I said something like that) and I can't get through The System. Do you realize how ridiculous this is, that you are telling me you cannot talk to me about an account I set up?" I took a deep breath. "And how can you possibly think the elderly community that you advertise to and cater to, with their diminishing faculties, could make any sense of THE SYSTEM if I can't!"