Showing posts with label some people. Show all posts
Showing posts with label some people. Show all posts

Friday, August 14, 2009

So a girl walks into a bank...

...and the bank gets robbed and she is totally oblivious to it all.

Yes, that girl would be me! Yup! I went to the bank near my job to take care of some business. The tellers informed me that I would need to take care of that particular business with a manager, not a teller, and so I promptly stepped over to the manager's desk, which is a kiosk of sorts. So I'm standing there and we're going over some things on my account, and my back is to the tellers. I'm vaguely aware that someone else has come in to the teller area. So as the manager and I wrap up our business and she hands me a business card, I turn to leave and see these glass doors closing shut, and before my mind could register "huh?" the tellers behind the counter are saying loudly-not yelling-"We've just been robbed!"

So one teller is on the phone answering questions "Yes, he's gone....on foot....plaid shirt...." ALl the time I'm thinking "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME." So the other teller tells me I can't leave, I have to wait and talk to the police. So I said that I didn't see anything. I asked the manager if she knew they were being robbed, and she said she wasn't aware of it either. Meanwhile, people were coming up to the glass doors trying to get in and handle their own banking business. The tellers put up this sign that said "Due to circumstances beyond our control, this branch will be closed until further notice" or something like that. People were PISSED! Even one lady, after the teller said "we've been robbed," she was all like "well when are you going to open back up?!?!" Some people!

So what I thought would be a quick errand was turning into something longer. I texted my boss to let her know it'd be awhile before I got back, because the bank just got robbed. (Bad idea, she sent me a few texts in a row, worried about me...I forgot to tell her that I was fine.) Then the manager says that I can go, but to leave my contact information for the police, just in case.

As I stepped out of the bank, there were TONS of cop cars coming from every direction. And at this major three-way intersection, THAT'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.

Yeah...so I witnessed a bank robbery...sort of...except I didn't see anything.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Rudeness of Some People

Ok, I have been intrigued by Seattle Sutton's but just can't get past the money thing, it's not cheap....so I get things from "her" or rather the company via email. I am totally annoyed by this one I received today. And not because I'm from Chicago and feel the need to defend Oprah, either. My unsolicited commentary is in red.
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Just The Facts, Oprah

I don't watch television very much (and those of you who watch too much, SHAME ON YOU!), but last week when I learned that Kirstie Alley and Oprah Winfrey were going to discuss weight loss and weight gain on Oprah's television show, I tuned in. Kelly just shook his head, anticipating, I think, what might happen. (Oh, dontcha just love that personal touch, that first name friendliness! I digress....)

Sure enough, what I heard disturbed me deeply. Kelly cautioned me to keep cool, and I did the best I could. But what I heard from two people who have willingly accepted role model status cannot, in my sincere and heart-felt opinion, be ignored.

And so once again I find myself in the position of having to counter-act what I consider to be extremely bad advice and negative thinking from someone I generally admire—Oprah.

I know this blog will trigger a barrage of angry comments—some of them shameful—from a few fanatics who believe that Oprah can do no wrong. (But nary a one that just may have a different point of view?) As I have indicated elsewhere, I believe she often provides sound advice and has a good and loving heart.

But when it comes to eating healthy, losing weight, and maintaining a healthy weight, Oprah (and Kirstie) are simply making excuses. (Are they? I've heard them both admit they eat too much.) By so doing, they are misusing their role model status and dispensing bad information to millions of people who deserve better. They—and especially Oprah—are supposed to be leading, but in fact all they're doing is sanctifying their own failures, and by so doing, discouraging people who need to learn to eat healthy, portion-controlled meals. (Or maybe they are showing people that even they, as famous people with all the resources at their fingertips, have trouble keeping their weight down, too. That it has nothing to do with money or fame.)

I suppose I am most offended and discouraged by Oprah's bogus claim that "diets don't work." What she means is that her diets haven't worked. I can point her to tens of thousands of people who have changed their eating habits, reclaimed a healthy weight, and moved forward through their lives.

What does Oprah mean by diet? Does she mean "eat less than I wantto for as short a time as I can stand?" Well, that's way too narrow a definition. (Ok, Webster. But we know what most people mean when they say "I'm going on a diet.")

Everyone who eats and drinks has a diet, because the word diet means what you eat and drink. If you aren't on a diet, you will die. That's a dictionary fact. (Suddenly I feel like I'm back in grade school, arguing on the playground.) So it's ridiculous for Oprah to say that diets don't work. Her claim that people on diets lose weight only to gain it back is one of the excuses I referenced. (If in the term diet she is referencing how many people understand the term to mean 'a temporary reduction in calories and fat-and even carbs in some cases' and then they go back to their old eating habits, well then Idon't think that is 'an excuse.') What she means is that "gimmick diets" don't work. I agree with that. (It could be gimmick diets or others, like Seattle Sutton's and Weight Watchers. If you do something temporarily and do not seek to change eating habits for the long term, you will gain weight back. Sounds more like the truth to me, not an excuse......and WAIT. If we are saying that everyone has a diet because it means what you eat and drink, then why are we arguing whether or not diets work?!)

The idea that one can keep a healthy weight by self-inflicting a strict and temporary artificial eating regimen, followed by a resumption of previous levels of intake, is absolutely false. (That's what I just said!) The point is to learn to eat the proper portions of healthy food, break the bad habits, and genuinely learn to appreciate the benefits and enjoy the pleasures of calorie-controlled healthy eating. (And that's what Oprah was referring to, wasn't it? That was MY understanding.)

Oprah is also wrong if she says that the sole answer is exercise. Exercise is helpful, but it is not enough. (And "dieting" alone is not enough, either!) Any claim otherwise would be silly if it weren't so desperate. Some studies show that almost 80% of maintaining a healthy weight level is a result of what and how much one eats. (Some studies show....hmmm.) This is science, not talk show voodoo.

At Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating, we tell our customers they need to pay attention to what they're eating, to notice the portions, to savor the food. Over the nearly 24 years we've been in business, we've noticed that the people who understand that our approach is the right way—and a great way—to eat for the rest of their lives—well, they're the ones who prove Oprah wrong. (Or right? because if they go "off the Seattle Sutton diet", they can't succeed? Or if you're referring to them making lifestyle changes then no, they're really just confirming what she said.)

Oprah, I'm doing you a favor by calling you out. Just the facts, dear. You need to lose weight. (Did Oprah say or imply that she didn't need to lose weight?) Sorry to have to say it so plainly. (Or bitch-ily.) You are a public figure and people are watching you, trusting you, learning from you.

You need to lose weight for reasons of health and mental comfort. Then you can go back to helping people again. (WHAT?! So overweight people are incapable of helping people?! So she (and all the others) should focus solely on their own personal weight loss before doing anything else?! Are you effing kidding me?!?!?!?!?!) Here's my challenge to you. (HOOK!) Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating is not a gimmick diet.You can learn to eat—and enjoy what you're eating—and make (and keep)your weight right. Real food, healthy meals, calorie-controlled. (LINE!)

Let me help you, please. (SINKER!)

Seattle Sutton, RN, BSN
888.442.3438

Go to http://www.seattlesutton.com/and click on the link: "Seattle's Blog."

I posted a comment. I wonder if it will make the comments page.