Definitely not the VA here in Arkansas. On Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 4:25 AM, bruce majors <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > > > Christina Patterson: Sister, stop stuffing your face > > No one expects nurses to look like supermodels, or lap dancers > > Thursday, 9 April 2009 > > At regular intervals in my adult life, I've been through the following > ritual: I'm sitting reading a book when a gargantuan creature comes > lumbering over, and marches me to what might or might not be a scaffold. > After a few adjustments, I am placed against a wall. Moments later, > after staring at a chart, and making a calculation that is clearly more > taxing than the post fiscal stimulus national debt, the creature nods. > Yes, she says curtly, my BMI is OK. > > The creature is, of course, a nurse and yes, my BMI is OK. Hers, > however, is not. But we are not here to measure her BMI. We are here to > sit in a waiting room for hours, ideally one that's full of giant > tellies with the volume turned up to maximum level, so that I can then > be summoned to see a registrar who may or may not have read my notes and > discuss the myriad ways in which my normal-sized body has let me down. > > Other normal-sized friends have been told by giant doctors that they are > fat. Doctors who don't chuckle heartily and present their verdict in an > isn't-this-ridiculous-but-I'm-just-following-orders sort of way. > Doctors, indeed, who appear to have no sense of irony, no sense of > humour, no sense of the surreal. Because it is surreal, I'm afraid, to > be lectured on your weight by someone whose mass of accumulated adipose > tissue is considerably greater than yours. > > No one expects nurses to look like supermodels, or lap dancers, or air > hostesses, or even like anything that might ever have inspired an erotic > fantasy (the PVC "nurses' uniforms" at Ann Summers don't, I think, bear > much resemblance to the current shapeless tunic and trousers), but you > don't expect them all to look like Hattie Jacques either. And at least > Hattie Jacques knew how to smile. You might, however, reasonably expect > the custodians of the nation's health not to look as though they were > about to consume the GDP of Iceland in medication for diabetes, and you > might expect the custodians of the nation's health to at least have > glanced at some of the leaflets on obesity they so lugubriously hand > out. > > More than half the NHS's 1.2 million staff are overweight, apparently, > and 300,000 are obese. And now, in a marvellous example of "joined-up > thinking", the Government has decided that it might be a good idea to > increase "the credibility of health messages" by looking at the > "behaviour of health professionals". By inviting NHS staff for – wait > for it – a check on their BMI. > > Well, let's hope it works. It might, I fear, take rather more than that > for people who have survived three years of training in the human body > and emerged convinced that it's an organism that functions best on > chocolate and chips to spearhead the revolution we all need. > Particularly when they're all miserable about their pay and convinced – > in spite of the counter-evidence of great swathes of the day spent > chatting – that they're collapsing with stress. > > But we've got to start somewhere, and at least they have a job – a job, > unlike many of their patients, they're unlikely to lose – and maybe it's > time they started to do their bit in helping to transform this > lumbering, wheezing, tax-guzzling dinosaur of a national health service > into something "fit for purpose" (in John Reid's ghastly phrase) – or > even something that's just halfway fit. > > Http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-<http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/christina-> > patterson/christina-patterson-sister-stop-stuffing-your-face- > 1666149.html > > -- > Mario Huet > Libertarian Alliance Forum > List Administrator > > ********************************************** > Words cannot picture her; but all men know > That solemn sketch the pure sad artist wrought > ********************************************** > James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night > __._,_.___ > Messages in this topic > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/message/87785;_ylc=X3oDMTM2MG9oMHRxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BG1zZ0lkAzg3Nzg1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTIzOTI2Njk3NwR0cGNJZAM4Nzc4NQ--> > (1) Reply (via web post) > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxcDAzOWdnBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BG1zZ0lkAzg3Nzg1BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTIzOTI2Njk3Nw--?act=reply&messageNum=87785>| > Start a new topic > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJldWJ2cnFsBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTIzOTI2Njk3Nw--> > Messages<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/libertarian-alliance-forum/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJla3ZpaWdhBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIyMzcxMjgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDYwMTY5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA21zZ3MEc3RpbWUDMTIzOTI2Njk3Nw--> > Subscribe: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: [email protected] > > NB - The Libertarian Alliance does not necessarily approve of the above > message. > MARKETPLACE > ------------------------------ > From kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods > <http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=14kprsli3/M=493064.12016295.13271503.10835568/D=groups/S=1705060169:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1239274177/L=/B=0Zs8AEPDhCk-/J=1239266977210660/K=EUI6b0zDrNvqET90Q3AoZw/A=5530388/R=0/SIG=11nuutlas/*http://explore.yahoo.com/groups/kraftmealsmadesimple/> > ------------------------------ > I make $350/day online. 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