Not much on the telly tonight, so I ended up watching "My 600 lb. Life" --- the show where folks go to Houston for bariatric surgery… some successful, some not so much.
After watching a couple episodes, I'm left with some mixed feelings.
Is super morbid obesity:
1) a disease along the same lines as alcoholism and drug addiction?
2) a lifestyle issue (poor food choices, lack of exercise, laziness)?
3) a mental health issue (poor self esteem, depression, etc.)?
What have you seen in your practice re: number of super morbidly obese admissions, bariatric surgeries, disease processes related to super morbid obesity, difficulty caring for super morbidly obese patients.
Back in the day when I was poor and didn't have a care and lived with my crack addicted 1st husband - I got one of those collapsible grocery carts and took the bus to the grocery store once a week in the daytime. I could get enough groceries for the two of us to last a week. Then I trundled it home and up three flights of stairs to our apartment. If people continue to make excuses for why they can't do something they'll never do it. With SNAP and WIC people can buy food at Walmart, Target, dollar stores, etc... The fact remains that even when large chain grocery stores are available people who eat junk still eat junk.
With all respect, it sounds as though you were young and healthy enough to take this hike to buy your healthy groceries, and that you did not have other responsibilities, such as a job, children, or aged parents, etc. What is possible for us when we are young and healthy, without other responsibilities, is often impossible when we are older, in poor health, or have other family responsibilities, even if we would like to choose otherwise.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
With all respect, it sounds as though you were young and healthy enough to take this hike to buy your healthy groceries, and that you did not have other responsibilities, such as a job, children, or aged parents, etc. What is possible for us when we are young and healthy, without other responsibilities, is often impossible when we are older, in poor health, or have other family responsibilities, even if we would like to choose otherwise.
I did in fact have a job - scraping dog %$#@ of kennel floors. My 1st husbad was a crack addict who beat the crap pout of me on more than one occasion. Try climbing three flights of stairs with bad knees and fibromyalgia. I have worked hard at some kind of gainful employment since I was 13 years old. I do not buy in to the idea that peopel can't do better for themselves. However our Nanny/Welfare state enables people to continue on the dole and make it seem like those of us who work are responsible for paying their way while they sit on their couches watching Judge Judy and eating twinkies. The fact of the matter is that we live in an "Eat what you kill world." I worked 3 jobs to put myself through school with no help from family. If you don't like your circumstances change them. individuals have to take responsibility for their own lives period.
I did in fact have a job - scraping dog %$#@ of kennel floors. My 1st husbad was a crack addict who beat the crap pout of me on more than one occasion. Try climbing three flights of stairs with bad knees and fibromyalgia. I have worked hard at some kind of gainful employment since I was 13 years old. I do not buy in to the idea that peopel can't do better for themselves. However our Nanny/Welfare state enables people to continue on the dole and make it seem like those of us who work are responsible for paying their way while they sit on their couches watching Judge Judy and eating twinkies. The fact of the matter is that we live in an "Eat what you kill world." I worked 3 jobs to put myself through school with no help from family. If you don't like your circumstances change them. individuals have to take responsibility for their own lives period.
Hppy
The fact that you had a job and were able to catch the bus/push a grocery cart home and carry it upstairs does not mean other people are healthy enough to do the same, or can find enough time away from family responsibilities to do the same. Please exercise some tolerance for other people who have their own particular life circumstances.
Specializes in NICU, PICU, Transport, L&D, Hospice.
I did in fact have a job - scraping dog %$#@ of kennel floors. My 1st husbad was a crack addict who beat the crap pout of me on more than one occasion. Try climbing three flights of stairs with bad knees and fibromyalgia. I have worked hard at some kind of gainful employment since I was 13 years old. I do not buy in to the idea that peopel can't do better for themselves. However our Nanny/Welfare state enables people to continue on the dole and make it seem like those of us who work are responsible for paying their way while they sit on their couches watching Judge Judy and eating twinkies. The fact of the matter is that we live in an "Eat what you kill world." I worked 3 jobs to put myself through school with no help from family. If you don't like your circumstances change them. individuals have to take responsibility for their own lives period.
Hppy
So "welfare queen" didn't apply to you but you presume that it applies to most everyone else who participates in the same programs?
So "welfare queen" didn't apply to you but you presume that it applies to most everyone else who participates in the same programs?
Used as a stereotype it's ugly and untrue, but it's delusional to deny that there are people who could work but choose not to and are content to live on the taxpayer dime. They do exist, and any that do need to be aggressively kicked off the rolls so that we can afford to help those who actually do need it.
Used as a stereotype it's ugly and untrue, but it's delusional to deny that there are people who could work but choose not to and are content to live on the taxpayer dime. They do exist, and any that do need to be aggressively kicked off the rolls so that we can afford to help those who actually do need it.
I take it you are without faults, and are in a position to pass judgement on other people who you do not know, and whose lives you do not live.
Used as a stereotype it's ugly and untrue, but it's delusional to deny that there are people who could work but choose not to and are content to live on the taxpayer dime. They do exist, and any that do need to be aggressively kicked off the rolls so that we can afford to help those who actually do need it."
When and where did I say I was? I want perpetrators of fraud prosecuted. That's a government function. I want those who can work to be forced to, and that's a legislative function. I want self-sufficiency to be more attractive than dependency, and that's a social/parental function. Ultimately, I want people who could take care of themselves off the rolls permanently, because there's limited amount of money, and I want it available for people who truly are unable to earn for themselves because of disability, mental illness, etc. The vulnerable are our societal responsibility. The capable who refuse to make good choices and expect the rest of us to finance them, are not.
You called me out as a Catholic. Do you think being Catholic means I'm supposed to just willingly hand my earnings over to anyone who comes calling? Catholic teaching recognizes the worker's right to keep his earnings and control what is done with them. That's justice, because they are the fruit of his labor. I am called to charity, which includes helping those who truly cannot help themselves. I am not called to submit to the injustice of having my wages taken by those who won't work or refuse to be responsible with their resources.
I think government assistance should be a temporary hand up, not a lifestyle, for anyone except the truly disabled. Medical certification for any physical or mental illness is appropriate for the people who have them, and time limits for everyone else.
Again, I'm trying to understand how my desire to keep limited resources available for those who truly can't do for themselves, as opposed to wasting them on those who could, makes me some kind of uncharitable, uncompassionate ogre.
Susie2310
2,121 Posts
With all respect, it sounds as though you were young and healthy enough to take this hike to buy your healthy groceries, and that you did not have other responsibilities, such as a job, children, or aged parents, etc. What is possible for us when we are young and healthy, without other responsibilities, is often impossible when we are older, in poor health, or have other family responsibilities, even if we would like to choose otherwise.