“I call that a plan,” Linda says.
“Okay, but…”
“You have an objection?” Mom asks.
Although I hate to be a wellness wet blanket, I have to ask how, if we try so many different treatments at once, we will be able to tell which ones are working.
“What about the whole idea of the scientific method? Controls and variables. You maintain the same conditions for a set period of time and change just one factor.”
“You don’t have to tell me about the scientific method,” Mom says. She seems miffed that I haven’t swooned over her program.
“Well, what if one of these treatments works and the others don’t? How will we know to keep doing the right thing? Or what if one of them causes him to backslide, and they cancel each other out?”
“Well.” Mom places her glasses on top of her head. “I appreciate what you’re saying, Billy, but I think, given the fact that your father has already been ill for a couple of months, we should try everything we can in order to save time, even if that means employing many treatments at once and not developing the kind of complete data set you think would be so edifying.”
“I totally agree with Mom,” Linda adds. “You’re going off on a tangent as usual. Don’t you even care whether Dad gets back to normal?”
“Of course I do. Don’t you care about anything other than agreeing with Mom? Mom, say Dad suddenly starts to get better—”
“Then he gets better, right? And that’s what we want. End of story.”