I was in a meeting the other day and we were talking about getting some of the part-time people health insurance, and the boss went around the room asking, for the nth time, how many people in the room didn't have insurance. And when it came around to me and I pointed out I was uninsured, and with a chronic condition... which is obviously a bad thing... someone said something like "well, I guess you'll have to keep praying."

Can I just say what a stupid thing that is to say in general?

As had happened the last couple times, I reminded them that I was an atheist and there was no one to pray too. The best I could hope for was to walk carefully and try not to get hit by a car. I'd fallen on the ice on campus a couple days before and told the boss to take it to HR that I was concerned that I broken my kneecap for a time, and since I didn't have insurance, my only alternative would have been to sue the school.

But prayer?

I mean, if there isn't anything to be done about a bad situation, you don't really need to fill in the space with nonsense. Sometimes the uncomfortable silence is a better message.