Rant
I discovered I had a flat tire this morning. Since I’m taking off for Boston early tomorrow morning, I was torn between “Did this have to happen today?” vs. “Thank goodness this happened today!” reactions. I headed (slowly) for the nearest tire center, which happened to be Les Schwab. Fortunately, they weren’t too busy, so they were able to get right on it.
So that’s not actually what I’m ranting about. It was annoying, but c’est la vie.
Rather, it’s about what happened while I was waiting. After completing the work order, I grabbed a cup of (not-too-great-but-free) coffee and sat down at a table with a copy of the Tri-City Herald on it – figured I’d glance at the paper for a while. After a few minutes, I was joined by another customer: a heavy-set, 30-something woman with her toddler daughter. The little girl was a cutie: she had gray-blue eyes and was wearing a fuzzy pink footed sleeper…according to her mom, she was 15 months old.
Mom had a can of Mountain Dew from the vending machine in hand, and proceeded to pop the top. Her little girl pointed to the can, so – after taking a swig – Mom held it to her lips so she could drink too. And it wasn’t just one sip: she continued to share the soda: Mom would take a drink, then give the baby a turn.
Mentally, I did a “WTF???” double-take. Who, in their right mind, would be feeding soda – and caffeinated soda at that – to a toddler?
Even worse…There were 3 candy dispensers adjacent to the table, filled with Reese’s Pieces, Skittles, and some oblong chocolate-covered things (almonds, maybe?). It was a colorful display, which caught the little girl’s attention. She pointed at them, and Mom immediately chirped: “You want some candy?” She immediately set the kid down, stuck a quarter in the Reese’s Pieces dispenser and got a handful of the candy. While she was doing this, her daughter wandered over to where another mother with a little boy were sitting…she wasn’t paying the slightest attention to what Mom was up to, and had no apparent interest in the candy. This didn’t deter Mom, though…she walked over, knelt down, and started popping the candy into the little girl’s mouth.
My jaw damn near hit the floor: the kid hadn’t even shown more than an initial flicker of interest in the stuff, yet here was Mom – literally pushing it on her. It’s bad enough that kids gravitate to junk food and sweets on their own, via advertisements, school vending machines, friends, etc. But I was really blown away by this gal, who was going out of her way to encourage a preference for candy and soda on her daughter’s part. The little girl wasn’t even being fussy or demanding (which would have made it understandable, at least)…she was one of those calm, placid babies, who just sort of take things in, and who would have been just as happy to toddle around or play “Peek-a-Boo.”
With all the emphasis on childhood obesity and health these days, I have a hard time seeing how anyone could be this clueless. Unbelievable.
October 14, 2008
Honestly, I am aghast. This is the epitome of clueless… a super-sugared, highly caffeinated beverage to an infant? Hello? Encouraging the eating of junk? Hello?
As ridiculous as it sounds, I really believe that there are people that simply do not make the logical connection between what they are eating and how they look and feel. They don’t understand nutrition. They have no interest in it. I’d be surprised if they had any interest in ANYTHING.
Or perhaps there are some who feel that food and eating are simply part of the “instant gratification” lifestyle. In other words, if it feels good, do it, if it tastes good eat it, and damn the consequences. And consequently, they pass these behaviors on to their offspring?
How else can you explain this behavior? Because unless she is deliberately and maliciously looking to burn out her kid’s pancreas by the time she is ten, why the heck is she doing this?