Don't Blame the Eater

In the article Dont Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko provides a different side of the story on child obesity in America. When some people see an obese person they tend to say why don't that person stop eating and do something about their weight.  Zinczenko believes that some of the blame should be shifted to providers of the goods that are making these children obese-fast food company. His arguments suporting his claim covers the easy accessibility of fast food restaurants, time and financial scarcity of consumers and the growing cost of medical aid to tax payers due to the increase of diseases linked to childhood obesity. He also says that it would be in the fast food industry to take responsibility of their part in childhood obesity epidemic because it could later threaten their industry.

Choosing this article was an easy choice, for one because it is a light read but most importantly increates and open up a new avenue for a topic that many would say is one sided.  That one sided view point is that fat people other than those who have a thyroid problem is fat because they want to be.  In other words they need to take it on themself to exercise personal responsibility and stop eating.  Zinczenko brought another posible reason to the conversation which is maybe the producers of the fast food should be blame.  He is well aware of what type of claim he is making when says this and it is also clair that he also believe in personal responsibility. He opens the gate for other people who reads the article to think without descriminating that when they see a person that is overweight there might be a gazillion reason why they are like that other that personal responsibility.

Some Things are Not What it Seems

I stumbled on a pictue on my facebook wall, posted by a friend with a lady in mid stride crossing a street.  The woman is wearing an all white outfit, a tightly fitted pants and also a tight blouse.  The picture is taken from behind at an angle a bit to the left.  There is more going on in the picture, but what got my attention was the woman’s figure, especially her buttocks; so I clicked on the picture for a better look, and also because I wanted to read the text beneath the picture that was too small to read.  The text which was written by the woman in the picture boyfriend, explain that he was walking holding hands with her, but stop to take the picture.  He continued to explain, that he didn't know why he was slapped by his girl for taking the picture because all he was trying to do was capture an unbelieveable event, which is a dog driving a car.  The moral of the story is that somethings are not what they seems.   

This is a common lesson that many people learn in their life by personal experience.  People tend to not give others the benefit of the doubt unless they had a similar experience.  In the picture, it’s easy to assume that the focal point or the main reason to look at the picture-if you are a man-is to admire the woman’s rear end in a tight white pants.  It is easy to assume that if you see a man pointing his camera in the general vicinity of the woman the he must be a pervert objectifying women.  Many people rarely step back and say wait a minute, let me not assume if I don’t have all the information.

The Pen Vs the Sword

I was always unsettled with the saying “the pen is mightier than the sword”.  I know it is not a literal statement, even though  many times I had imagine two warriors battling to the death;  one equipt with a sword, the other with a pen and for some reason the warrior with the pen came out victorious.  I then would imagine him standing over his oponent with his pen to the heavens screaming at the top of his voice "the pen is mightier than the sword!".  In a more serious note, I thought of all that has come from the edge of a blade-both good and bad-and wonder if those who have ever heard the saying give any thought to the might of the sword.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 At the same time I didn't want to take anything away from the saying because it was very powerful, but I felt it was lacking something, then it came to me.  I believe the statement needs to be revised and be written as “the pen is mightier than the sword only if it has a good writer”.  I was much more comfortable with such a statement.  The statement was no longer lacking, it was now complete.  I also believe this revision gave it more power.  The revision create a distinction between good writing and bad writing, and that the good writing is what that is able to destroy the symbolism of the sword.

With that said, I’m in English 102 with hopes of improving on the basic fundamentals of writing and also become more comfortable with writing.  It’s one thing to have brilliant ideas, insightful thoughts and outlooks, but it is very frustrating being unable to formulate them in words or distract potential readers with grammatical errors and poor organization.  I understand that it is important to create a proper foundation in any craft, if one has any aim at becoming a master.  I am taking English 102 with hopes to create a sturdy foundation in writing so I can later express my ideas in any and all style of writing.  At the end of the semester I hoping to accomplish this by improving on my grammar and mechanics so my pen can be mightier than the sword.