Okay - I never like to start the day on a down note. I generally work up to it during the course of the day when disappointments and overall crankiness have set in. Day 10 or 11 of rain/drizzle/clouds has not exactly set the stage for a sunny disposition either. But here's how it went in my world this morning.
The newspaper was again left on the driveway in a puddle while the little green plastic box attached to the mailbox, specifically designed to prevent this outcome, was left empty again - as it is every morning. Called paper customer service to complain, ask for a dry one and remind them that these are not the best times for newspapers to be pissing off their paying customers. If PaperBoy wants to play, I can give as good as I get. Strap yourself in, PaperBoy. And just for extra giggles, he put everyone else's paper in their little green boxes. God, I hate stoopid people.
Then hubby ignores my note on the garage door to leave the garbage hauling to me today. Love the hubby but seeing as we have to pay the town for our garbage bags and he always leaves them at the curb half full, the little waste nazi in me is trying to control (unsuccessfully) the fullness of our garbage bags.
Okay, I realize I'm whining a little (a lot) but the biggest outrage of the morning was on the CBS Morning Show (you can tell how desperate I truly was if CBS was on the tube) and they had a story about a mother being arrested for allowing her teenage son's weight to reach 500 pounds. This woman was in court - SHACKLED! - for child endangerment. The accusation was that she wasn't doing enough to get him healthier. The woman claimed she couldn't afford special services. I imagine the truth is somewhere inbetween. The boy is now with the Department of Social Services. Now I agree that a child who reaches 500 pounds has a serious problem and it should never have gotten to this point, but I cannot recall ever seeing the mother of an anorexic child in chains before the court. So if you're going to start rounding up moms whose kids' weight issues are out of control then you're going to have to round them ALL up - not just the moms with the fat kids.
So tell me, is it me and my plus size paranoia or does this strike you as outrageous too?
11 comments:
Cheer up! I can understand your anger at the situation with the mom...how sad.
I say set a boobie trap for tat evil paper boy. Show him what you're made of!
Can't wait to hear what Christmas present the paper boy gets! As for the mother who was arrested, it speaks volumes about our society. A struggling mom is shackled and hauled into court (spending tax payer dollars I'm sure for the public defender) when we need to be helping her and her son. I'm sure if the child was under weight and struggling to find food to eat, we'd direct them to a food pantry with a gentle hand and kind word...I'm outraged that we treat the boy and his mother with a court appearence and once again mock the overweight in our society and publicly flog them for their personal struggles.
The paperboy thing is ridiculous mainly because he could put a plastic bag on it for people he just leaves it out for. Our paper person comes right up to the door and throws it in our screened in side porch. It's fantastic.
The lady that allowed her kid to get to 500 lbs. I think it's a community wide issue. Our schools have no choice nowadays than to call the police or DCS when they probably used to be handled in house because of all the lawsuits and crap that parents do. If our society wasn't so sue happy about things. It should have probably been handled whereas the school notices how big he is and approaches the parent about the situation at that time the parent being able to say, I'm having a hard time buying healthy things because it's expensive and I can't get him involved in exercise etc. Maybe some free classes at a community center that teaches how to cook healthy foods on a tight budget etc and so forth. But it seems like nowadays it's the immediate DCS call. I do however think 500 lbs is excessive, at some point someone needs to step in, although I don't think Jail is the answer.
I totally agree it's outrageous about the mom. What does jail time do for the mom? It accomplishes nothing. What they should do is help the mom and her son get therapy, that's what they do with parents of bulimic and anorexic kids.
Get it out...the morning outrage is not bad if you vent and move on. I wish our paper boy would deliver on our doorstep so I don't have to get dressed to retrieve it from the curb! Arrggg!
You're so right that newspapers should be doing EVERYTHING to retain customers. On the obese child, I'm going to go online to check out the story. Seems like maybe intervention should have occured long before 500 pounds. And it should NOT have included jail/court.
Glad you're laying it all out for us this morning... I'll try and send some sunshine your way. =)
I don't think the mom should be shackled and taken to court. But I do think she needs to be educated and helped to help her son. It's a tough situation.
Hope there was some good news in the dry newspaper that was hopefully left in the green plastic box for you.
In reading an article about the woman who was arrested, she wasn't arrested because her child was overweight but because she REFUSED to get him help when she was told to and then failed to show up for a hearing about him. She put her child in medical danger and she was charged with child endangerment. I would imagine that parents who have ignored their children's anorexia or bulemia have also been charged with child endangerment when told to seek help but we wouldn't hear about it because it isn't sensational news.
What is it about paper carriers? Ours is just as annoying as yours, but I'm always afraid if I don't include a tip in the payment, he'll be even worse. (IF that's possible.)
Outrage is healthy....it may even be a cardio exercise!! It sure is sometimes for me.
Well, hopefully the day got better as it went on Gigi. No, there are far better way to handle that situation than court and chains. Very sad indeed.
interesting perspective on the FLIP SIDE with the anorexic!
Living where I do I see, daily, moms encouraging their tween daughters to not eat so much and "do you really need that?!?"
completely as detrimental to their development.
MizFit
Post a Comment