Winter time is upon us, and although I hate the freezing temperatures and biting wind, winter offers multiple possibilities for fun. There’s always skiing and snowboarding, but you can’t deny a good snowball fight, sledding, or building a snow fort. I’m in my twenties but feel like a kid again when there’s a fresh 6 inches on the ground, and one of the most fun things to do is to watch someone slip and fall on the ice.

I don’t think there’s anything better than seeing someone try to regain their balance and take a spill, that is of course as long as they don’t get hurt. But that unfortunately happened this weekend, and the fun turned to concern in an instant.

We were downtown and enjoying a nice Saturday afternoon, and the sidewalks were covered in ice. The city was doing a good job, but the drifting wind and constant snowfall kept creating new hazards. We were walking down a small flight of concrete stairs, maybe about 8-10, and I slipped on the second to last one and quickly grabbed the railing for support.

My friends busted up laughing, and I had to laugh at myself, but it was a close call. As we were about fifteen feet away, we heard lady scream and turned around to see a woman on the ground in an awkward position. I guess she slipped on the same stair and twisted her ankle really bad, and you could tell she was in excruciating pain. We all kept her company until the ambulance came, and as we were walking around we talked about that happening to us.

My buddy Ryan said he’d be in big trouble because his company cut his benefits last month, and if he hurt himself he’d have to pay everything out of pocket. That’s when it hit me; I haven’t had any health insurance for a few months now, and I was in the same boat. I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I got home, and once I did I hopped right on the computer.

I checked out a few sites, but then I finally landed on a health insurance site that spoke my language. The home page didn’t seem to end with information, and they discussed all of the ins and outs of health insurance like co-payments, deductibles, premiums, pretty much anything you could think of.

I thought there couldn’t be anything else, but then I hit the link to their directory. They have an itemized list of group and individual health insurance, benefits, supplemental insurance, I couldn’t believe it.

I went back to the home page and filled out the form they had, and after a consultation I had my own package set up and I was covered. You never know when something could happen to you, and with medical bills always seeming to rise it feels comforting to know I am covered in case something does.