Thursday, November 11, 2010

Unnecessary

I read a blog, which shall remain nameless, that focusing on couponing. Yes, I am one of THOSE women who hate to pay for anything and uses way too many coupons, and gets things for free, and pays like $2.00 for a $100 order at the store and I'm the one that you hate to stand behind in line at the supermarket. I save a lot, and I mean A LOT of money this way and well you should, well, just get over it and get in another line.


Can you tell I am fired up? That's cause I was reading the comments left on a blog posting about how CA was banning the toys that came with meals such as Happy Meals at McDonald's that didn't meet nutritional standards. People were vastly against the 'government intrusion' into our McDonalds-lives. They didn't want the government banning what they choose to put into their children's mouths.


I'l be honest - we eat there about once a month. We eat with knowledge that yes, it's not the perfect place to eat and we try to make good food choices when we go - grilled chicken sandwiches, apple slices, milk. It just is what it is. I'm not saying I'm sorry for it and I don't feel guilty about it. I feed my family well and a little McD's thrown into the bag is fine with me.


I think that the law that bans the toys is a little over-the-top in that it simplifies the problem to 'if we don't give them a toy, surely they won't go to those places and then they will make good food choices.' You know what? I live just outside a huge city. I see what happens in the poorer sections - lots of McD's, BK, and fast food places and not a veggie stand or fresh food market in sight. And if you were to go there, how will you get there on the bus and carry it home, with kids in tow and not a penny to your name. I try and understand. There but for the grace of God go I.


Ok, back to the point. One of the comments, as I scrolled down, said this:

Parents should, key word should, make these decisions for their children, so when their children grow up they have some sort of guidance to good eating. I have a Type 1 Diabetic family member, she is 5 years old. Her parents do not have her on a strict diabetic diet, so she is being pumped with unnecessary insulin. This is a perfect example of parental choices. A 5 year old doesn't know what a diabetic should or shouldn't eat, but her parents (one of which is diabetic) do. They choose not to teach her. Having the right to choose is our American gift, not everyone gets the right to choose. So why abuse it, then blame someone else?


OK- are you as incensed as I am???? I couldn't get to the keyboard fast enough. I typed and typed - Type 1 is an auto-immune disorder, not because my child is lazy, fat, or eats too much McD's food. And that's not Type 2 either for the love of God. And what, pray tell, is the 'strict diabetic diet' my child should be on???? Please, someone email that to me, can you? Thanks.


The part that REALLY set me off is the 'unnecessary insulin.' I think my head almost came off my body! I wrote in my response that insulin saves her life every damn day. Every. Damn. Day. If she doesn't have it, she dies. Slowly, painfully dies. How is insulin unnecessary???? Where did she get this information? I fear she is also telling this '5 year old family member' this information or the parent who is also diabetic (and my guess that's the old T2, not a T1).


So I commented. And it got posted. 


And I changed the title of this post (it was 'She can shove it') after I sat on it for a day. It's a little kinder. The little editor man in my head must not have been working last night when I typed the original title. 


But don't think for a minute that I didn't think about saying it to her, cause, really, I did.










10 comments:

Joanne said...

Oh my... words fail me right now. My head would have exploded upon reading that. Would have loved to read your response.

Denise said...

Seriously! She obviously has NO idea! Oh I hope she sees your response and learns something!

Alexis Nicole said...

i had to read this a few times cause i was sure it didnt say what i read. Holy crap how ignorant! Id love to know her response. Good for you on letting her know the truth.

Unknown said...

WWWHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT?????

You know...if she "cared" so much about this kid, she really ought to take a moment to educate herself.

UNNECESSARY INSULIN???? What the heck IS that? If the kid eats McD's or a fruit salad, she STILL needs insulin.

Crappy stereotypes.

LaLa said...

UGH!! I agree with all of the comments above! My head would have exploded, if she cared about the family members maybe she should educate herself and really just WTF??

I'm glad you took the time to respond! Great job!

Unnecessary insulin??? Really?? Geeeeeez!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for replying to that post. I was pretty sick when I read that too. I hope a lot of people learned something from you today!

Heidi / D-Tales said...

Aaarrrgghhh! It's that kind of vocal ignorance that makes my blood boil.

I'm so glad you responded and enlightened her.

And, yes, she can shove it!

Jules said...

Waaah! Penny, you had me laughing out loud there with the image of your head coming right off your body. What a sad woman she is to sit so easily in judgement of others. I smiled at the idea of unnecessary insulin too. My idea of a perfect diabetic diet is to eat well and in a balanced way with no guilt and no "bad" foods. Maybe her idea is ice cubes for each meal. I know it is taboo to ever, ever say you would wish Type 1 on anyine but sometimes I get a hint of the idea of someone like her having it for say a month and really learning what the flip she's talking about.
Big pat on the back for you for responding.

Unknown said...

Penny, you are a ROCK STAR. I am so fortunate to be in D Mama-hood with the likes of you. You are a powerful educator and advocate.

Jules states it to a "t"...I feel sad too. It must be hard for this lady to stand in judgement all the time on things she simply does not understand.

P.S. I, too am cool with a little McD's thrown in. That is how I roll...AND I love that they have carb counts!!!

Bennet said...

I look forward to the input of strangers on what constitutes necessary and unnecessary insulin.

OK truth be told - I don't.