A message that bears repeating

[luvmy3]

I guess you didn't see the sarcasm on my part? I was simply saying that as an example of what he had just done.

Nope, missed it.

 

[Princess Dolly]

Actually in my position I deal as much with people as machines but I guess it depends on what you mean by typical IT nerd. I like computers and all and can hold my own in just about any conversation outside of hard core coding but I don't go home and sit on one or play video games all day. I am athletic and play a multitude or sports (both team and individual), have a few hobbies (none of which involve electronics), belong to a lot of professional and civic social groups, and travel quite a bit. You'll have to tell me if that is typical IT nerd.

And as I predicted in my original post what I said has been completely twisted. Not only did I not say that the email was the answer but said "It is crass and rude and shouldn't be sent" which is pretty much the exact opposite.



For most people their health and weight is a choice and medical conditions causing obesity are the exception, not the rule. Of course this particular woman may be one of those exceptions but I'm not talking about her specifically, I'm talking about the population as a whole. I still wear the same size pants I did when I graduated high school and you can see my abs. That isn't a happenstance of nature, it is a result of the lifestyle I choose to live just as it is with the vast majority of us. Personally I see a lot of mis-placed anger over the whole obesity issue in this country as though it is the people who care about the health of our population (and children in particular) are wrong because we don't accept the falsity that the problem is out of our collective hands. But that is a topic for another thread which, of course, would just be closed here because we can't talk about this real and deadly problem like adults.

Firedancer, I was just using the IT thing as a sarcastic example of what you just said about that lady's job.

And kudos to you for taking such fabulous care of yourself.

People can be concerned about the health issues facing this country without acting like ***** about it. I'm all for proper nutrition, exercise, etc. But even I struggle. Right now because of a back issue I can't work out as much as I like and I have gained some weight. As I get older I find it more difficult to keep the weight off even with exercising and being mindful of what and how much I am eating.

 

[FireDancer]

Firedancer, I was just using the IT thing as a sarcastic example of what you just said about that lady's job.

And kudos to you for taking such fabulous care of yourself.

People can be concerned about the health issues facing this country without acting like ***** about it. I'm all for proper nutrition, exercise, etc. But even I struggle. Right now because of a back issue I can't work out as much as I like and I have gained some weight. As I get older I find it more difficult to keep the weight off even with exercising and being mindful of what and how much I am eating.

No, I get it. To be completely honest I have yet to encounter in life a local anchor that wasn't just a waste reading me news I could just read for myself. We have a bunch here and if all of them went over a cliff in a bus I would miss the bus most. But I have come to view almost all journalists who work for the networks (including the cable networks) as either useless or compromised shills who care more about advertising and keeping sponsors happy than giving us unbiased and uncompromised news.

In any regards, that part of my original post was a throw away I used just to highlight that a news anchor has no business being viewed as a role model for health simply because of their job. That was the more important part of that post which was ignored which was meant to address the example (which I read as role-model) statement of the post I quoted.

 

[disykat]

Holy Irony Batman!

Exactly! If one can claim all newscasters are.... then one can claim all IT people are....

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I never said anything about not having the legal right to publically post the email. I simply stated it was a person to person email. In my opinion, a person to person email receives a person to person response, not a 5 minute public response on a news broadcast. Again, just my opinion. Frankly, I am a bit tired of having to repeat myself and my posts getting dissected, so I am out of this discussion. My last comment is this...

The lawyer was out of line, the husband has a warped way of standing up for his wife, and I do not believe personal issues should be aired in that manner. Those are my opinions, and I have not asked anyone to agree with me, nor have I discounted what anyone else has stated. God bless.

Smitch, I just love you. I don't agree with you 100% on this topic, but I love how you are always able to voice your opinion without being rude, condescending, or hurtful. Then, you take other people's disagreement with class. You are easily one of my favorite posters on this site.

 

[LisaR]

No, I get it. To be completely honest I have yet to encounter in life a local anchor that wasn't just a waste reading me news I could just read for myself. We have a bunch here and if all of them went over a cliff in a bus I would miss the bus most. But I have come to view almost all journalists who work for the networks (including the cable networks) as either useless or compromised shills who care more about advertising and keeping sponsors happy than giving us unbiased and uncompromised news.

In any regards, that part of my original post was a throw away I used just to highlight that a news anchor has no business being viewed as a role model for health simply because of their job. That was the more important part of that post which was ignored which was meant to address the example (which I read as role-model) statement of the post I quoted.

Sometimes your responses are just downright rude. Those are human beings you are talking about. I get that you don't have a need for newscasters, but to actually miss a bus more than a human really says something about you as a person. I just dealt with the most idiotic IT person in the world an hour ago. Should I conclude all IT people are idiots and if they all went over a cliff on a bus, I would only miss the bus? Their human beings, for God sakes. Have a little respect. They didn't do anything to you. Seriously pathetic response even for you.

 

[Scurvy]

He said she made the CHOICE to be obese. I'm guessing that wasn't her choice.

And what is she supposed to do to "reconsider the example she is setting"? Give up her job?

I'm not the guy who sent the letter so I don't know exactly what he was thinking. However, it wouldn't surprise me if he believes that all people who are obese are that way because they don't have healthy lifestyles. I imagine he thought that by not choosing to alter her lifestyle, she was also making the choice to remain overweight. I assume that he thought the email would convince her to embrace a healthy lifestyle as opposed to the unhealthy one he apparently assumes she currently has. As I said, I do think he was rude and misguided.

Coincidentally, we have a woman on our local news who has been very public about changing her lifestyle in order to be more healthy. She is somewhat overweight and had a health scare recently. Since then she's done segments where she visited doctors, nutritionists and personal trainers. She is also televising her weekly weigh-ins. She has become very vocal about the dangers of being overweight, of not eating well and of leading a sedentary lifestyle. Oddly, even though most people have been very supportive of her, there have been some people posting on the station's Facebook page and elsewhere to criticize her and to complain that she is making other overweight people feel bad about themselves. I guess no matter what you do, you will never be able to make everyone happy.

 

[Princess Dolly]

No, I get it. To be completely honest I have yet to encounter in life a local anchor that wasn't just a waste reading me news I could just read for myself. We have a bunch here and if all of them went over a cliff in a bus I would miss the bus most. But I have come to view almost all journalists who work for the networks (including the cable networks) as either useless or compromised shills who care more about advertising and keeping sponsors happy than giving us unbiased and uncompromised news.

In any regards, that part of my original post was a throw away I used just to highlight that a news anchor has no business being viewed as a role model for health simply because of their job. That was the more important part of that post which was ignored which was meant to address the example (which I read as role-model) statement of the post I quoted.

Wow. Nice how you feel about your fellow human beings without even knowing them.

The newscaster never said she was a role model. The idiot who wrote the email said she was.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

One thing has really be amusing to me as I have follow this thread. When I was the thinnest I have ever been, I was also the least healthy I had ever been. Back when I was 21 and in college, I was between a size 2 and 4. I also happened to be at the height of my eating disorder with terrible blood pressure and a CBC that showed all sorts of issues. Fast forward a few years and I was at a size 10 and running an average of 6 miles a day. The thing is, believe that overweight=unhealthy and thin=healthy is simple ignorance. But people think that they know everything about a person simply by looking at them. They also feel that they somehow have the right to judge these people even though they know nothing more than what can be discovered by looking at a person.

 

[Nayan]

Sometimes your responses are just downright rude. Those are human beings you are talking about. I get that you don't have a need for newscasters, but to actually miss a bus more than a human really says something about you as a person. I just dealt with the most idiotic IT person in the world an hour ago. Should I conclude all IT people are idiots and if they all went over a cliff on a bus, I would only miss the bus? Their human beings, for God sakes. Have a little respect. They didn't do anything to you. Seriously pathetic response even for you.

Actually I like his responses. He's honest and says what he thinks, unpopular or not.

 

[RitaE]

In short his email was just another "hey fat person how dare you exist in my world - think of the children!" kind of thing. It served no purpose other than him reaffirming to himself that he is most likely superior to the woman on the tv. Maybe he even tried to tell himself that he is "kind" for "suggesting" she be different.

If somebody doesn't want to label it bullying, then just chalk it up to being a jerk or other derogatory word. I'm sure that if somebody had left such a nice, kind helpful "You are too fat and it isn't healthy, get skinny or leave the high school. Some Freshman girl is probably looking at you as a role model and next thing you know she'll be getting fat just like you!" note in a 16 year old girls locker - We'd see that as bullying. But, since this is an adult woman who has chosen to put her face and body on camera as a career, maybe the public does have some further right to judge her appearance. I don't know, in that case just call it being a jerk if you feel that is the better word.

Either way, I have no problem with people unveiling him. Heck, apparently he didn't even bother to put a fake name behind it so he must be more than willing to have those words attached to him in his community. He started it. He is not the victim here. If you're going to go poking at a hornets nest don't be surprised when you get stung.

 

[labdogs42]

One thing has really be amusing to me as I have follow this thread. When I was the thinnest I have ever been, I was also the least healthy I had ever been. Back when I was 21 and in college, I was between a size 2 and 4. I also happened to be at the height of my eating disorder with terrible blood pressure and a CBC that showed all sorts of issues. Fast forward a few years and I was at a size 10 and running an average of 6 miles a day. The thing is, believe that overweight=unhealthy and thin=healthy is simple ignorance. But people think that they know everything about a person simply by looking at them. They also feel that they somehow have the right to judge these people even though they know nothing more than what can be discovered by looking at a person.

I wish more people would realize this. i wish they'd ditch the BMI thing and measure people's heath based on things like blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, etc. I'm overweight and I try to do healthy things and my stats are actually quite good. I have fantastic blood pressure and low cholesterol. I don't smoke and I use sunscreen. But because I'm overweight, it is somehow "OK" to assume things about me? To assume that I'm unhealthy, or to assume that I do nothing to have a healthy lifestyle? That's where I think we go wrong. Any stereotype based on LOOKS ALONE should be avoided. It just seems like now that we are past racial discrimination and harassment being the norm, now we are on to harassing overweight people. It just isn't right. Let people live their own lives. Someone else being fat doesn't affect you. People need to let it go.

 

[LisaR]

Actually I like his responses. He's honest and says what he thinks, unpopular or not.

Good for you, I guess.

If he had made a comment that a bus full of child molesters went over a cliff and he would miss the bus more, I'd applaud his statement.

These aren't child molesters. These are hard working people doing their job. It may be an easy job (simply reading a teleprompter) or it may be more difficult (actual journalism). But that is irrelevant. They are human beings simply doing a job. They are contributing to society just like a cashier at Dairy Queen, the CEO of a company, or an IT person. To make a comment stating that they are basically worthless humans on this planet and a bus is more important than they are is pathetic. But if that floats your boat, too, congrats.

 

[Nayan]

Good for you, I guess.

If he had made a comment that a bus full of child molesters went over a cliff and he would miss the bus more, I'd applaud his statement.

These aren't child molesters. These are hard working people doing their job. It may be an easy job (simply reading a teleprompter) or it may be more difficult (actual journalism). But that is irrelevant. They are human beings simply doing a job. They are contributing to society just like a cashier at Dairy Queen, the CEO of a company, or an IT person. To make a comment stating that they are basically worthless humans on this planet and a bus is more important than they are is pathetic. But if that floats your boat, too, congrats.

And again his point was missed. Reread it.

 

[kidshop]

I wish more people would realize this. i wish they'd ditch the BMI thing and measure people's heath based on things like blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, etc. I'm overweight and I try to do healthy things and my stats are actually quite good. I have fantastic blood pressure and low cholesterol. I don't smoke and I use sunscreen. But because I'm overweight, it is somehow "OK" to assume things about me? To assume that I'm unhealthy, or to assume that I do nothing to have a healthy lifestyle? That's where I think we go wrong. Any stereotype based on LOOKS ALONE should be avoided. It just seems like now that we are past racial discrimination and harassment being the norm, now we are on to harassing overweight people. It just isn't right. Let people live their own lives. Someone else being fat doesn't affect you. People need to let it go.

When I was in college studying for a degree in dietetics I had an overweight registered dietitian teacher. She taught us that fat is not automatically unhealthy, and yes, skinny people can be wildly unhealthy. People come in all shapes and sizes and worth is not determined by numbers on a scale. She was a good role model for girls...successful career, happily married, nice person. She exercised, ate well, but she was big. It did not diminish her other accomplishments, even though a fat RD is ironic, it is also helpful to those who are struggling. For some people weight is a struggle.

 

[LisaR]

And again his point was missed. Reread it.

Please explain it to me. My comprehension skills must be on a break at the moment.

Looks to me like his own personal commentary on newscasters and really didn't have a thing to do with the post he quoted.

No, I get it. To be completely honest I have yet to encounter in life a local anchor that wasn't just a waste reading me news I could just read for myself. We have a bunch here and if all of them went over a cliff in a bus I would miss the bus most. But I have come to view almost all journalists who work for the networks (including the cable networks) as either useless or compromised shills who care more about advertising and keeping sponsors happy than giving us unbiased and uncompromised news.

 

[Nancyg56]

Guy was a moron. It was a private email. You hit delete an move on. News should not be about personal issues with viewers. She gave this clown 15 minutes of fame. I'm all for a story about bullying, but I don't think this was the appropriate way to do it.

I do not agree with you. It is too easy to insult and hurt people when you just hit "send". This was a grown woman who was the recipient of the attack and it hurt her. There are people who are eager to "share" their opinions about obesity, people who are overweight and those who do not measure up to some image that the person has determined is acceptable. Ridiculing those who are overweight is one of the last acceptable forms of bullying that there is. And it is not okay.

This man needed to hear that his words have repercussions and that when someone privately ridicules another he is teaching children how to treat others. For that person to take it a step farther and find the need to send out a written attack is appalling.

Schools teach anti-bullying but all of the education tossed at children has no effect of their parents condone that behavior, in fact encouraging it by their actions. It is not okay to use another for you own amusement and that is what this action was.

Perhaps the name was never mentioned but you can take it to the bank that there are people who know who he was and that is a good thing IMO> yes, his behavior was mentioned on air, and not in a good way but I doubt he is out there reveling in his fame/ Nope, he is hiding under the cover of whatever anonymity and hopefully is embarrassed by what he did and what he said.

 

[Nayan]

Please explain it to me. My comprehension skills must be on a break at the moment.

Looks to me like his own personal commentary on newscasters and really didn't have a thing to do with the post he quoted.

This part:

In any regards, that part of my original post was a throw away I used just to highlight that a news anchor has no business being viewed as a role model for health simply because of their job. That was the more important part of that post which was ignored which was meant to address the example (which I read as role-model) statement of the post I quoted.

 

[luvsJack]

And again his point was missed. Reread it.

Ok, went back and saw your answer to another poster.

There are many ways to say that you don't think a news anchor should be a role model for health without bascially saying if they all fell off a cliff it wouldn't be a big loss.

And, btw, we don't usually get to pick and choose who our children choose for thier role models. That is something that comes from within the young person and how they feel about someone they see.

 

[Magpie]

Sometimes your responses are just downright rude. Those are human beings you are talking about. I get that you don't have a need for newscasters, but to actually miss a bus more than a human really says something about you as a person. I just dealt with the most idiotic IT person in the world an hour ago. Should I conclude all IT people are idiots and if they all went over a cliff on a bus, I would only miss the bus? Their human beings, for God sakes. Have a little respect. They didn't do anything to you. Seriously pathetic response even for you.

I believe it's called hyperbole.

As in, "the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally."

For example, "Gawd, I'm so embarrassed, I could just die!" does not mean the speaker is at imminent risk of suicide and should be taken into immediate custody for her own safety.

I don't believe anyone honestly thinks the poster in question truly wants to see anyone die in a fiery crash, much less his local newscasters.