No Bull Mom

Solving Problems the Offensive Way

So I'm at 7-11 this morning buying my one-dollar flavored coffee, and I'm in line next to a rather large woman who appears to be getting her daily breakfast of Hostess and Starbucks Frappucino. She's chatting it up with Tanya, who works behind the counter and is also overweight. Tanya's holding in her hand -- I kid you not -- a supersized container of soda that I have never seen before. This mug-like thing was the size of maybe three coffee cans. It must hold the equivalent of five sodas.

Which got me to thinking about the huge problem we have in this country -- obesity -- and why it causes such friction. Here are the only two possible reactions one can have to this issue:

1) Face the truth and deal with it.
2) Deny the truth and perpetuate the problem.

The truth is that the reason people are overweight today is b/c they eat too much and move too little. It isn't any more complicated than that. It IS, however, much harder to stay trim today than it used to be b/c of our sedentary lifestyles. But that doesn't mean it can't be done.

The flip side of this argument is that...well, there is no flip side except that people will have a thousand excuses as to why they're overweight. The political answer is to make sure people don't get offended when dealing with this issue. The problem there, of course, is that our obsessiveness with being sensitive to people's feelings doesn't help get them where they need to be. That's why Dr. Phil is so refreshing: He knows that the only way to solve a problem is to face the truth. The lesson being: Solving problems means stepping on people's toes. You have to offend them if you ultimately want to help them.