Because none of us except for PICUNURSE was there. And we’re quick to judge either ultra spoiled brat that embodies what is wrong with America or those of us with some actual experience with individuals that can be challenged with using utensils project that on the teen in question. Neither camp can really relate to the other small minded losers
Myself, I found the anorexia quote upthread interesting as I know little about anorexia. Using that filter to view the situation was of interest. No idea if the girl was in fact anorexic but the mindset was something I haven’t heard of before.
Things like this is why I think people that get pissed off at OPs who start threads like this are silly. Because they start interesting discussions where people LEARN shit they might not have otherwise. Well, that and if they think the thread sucks they could just move on ya know.
My point was that shouting “Fucking spoiled kids these days!” over eating nothing but a fast food diet ignores the fact that McDonald’s became a behemoth in the 70s. And it also ignores the fact that these spoiled kids (if they exist) were fed by parents born a generation or two earlier.
This was true for me. As an underweight, athletic teen I was disgusted by meat and all things poached in chicken or beef broth, and would do just about anything to avoid eating things I didn’t like. At home, the dog got most of the stuff I didn’t like. In public, I spread my food around the plate in an attempt to make it look as though I’d eaten something. Hungry or not, I had to be forced to eat meat and stalled as long as I possibly could.
I quite like your little thread, billfish678, and I’ll keep reading thankyouverymuch. I’m just puzzled as to why this topic has so many feathers ruffled. Teenagers do lots of counterproductive things in order to waste time, rankle the parents, and cause general mayhem. I’m just surprised that people are getting this pissed off at a simple “wonder why this happened…”
Your definition of “behemoth” is questionable at best.
A billion dollars in 1970 something. Lets assume about 150 million Americans. So, per year, each American spent 6 whopping dollars PER year there. Assume a measely 1 dollar per visit. So the average American went there once every other MONTH.
I just did a half assed internet search. If I read it right 25 million Americans visit the golden arches per day. Assume 300 million Americans now, so rather than a visit every sixty days, its every 10 days or so.
So, obviously McD’s consumption levels have gone up just a bit. Then consider back in 1970 something, many of the fast food places today were just tiny blips on the radar. So, not only are lots of Americans going to McD’s, they are ALSO now going to a buttload of other fast food places in addition to McDs.
Without doing anymore math, it wouldnt surprise me that Americans are visiting fast food places 30 times more give or take than they were then.
And I don’t give a flip about who raised the “fast food generation” (other than the fact many of them were shitty/lazy parents). Thats irrelevant. Would you quible about the definition of the “internet” generation because their parents weren’t using the internet when they grew up? That complaint makes no sense.
Well, I can only speak for myself. I have two teenagers and know their friends and they’re really nice kids. I get tired of the ‘kids these days’ memes since I know so many incredibly talented kids. More talented, I think, than most kids in my days. I also don’t like when people see something they don’t understand and go to the most negative possibility. Given the OPs description I see nothing that immediately says ‘spoiled brat’. I feel for the kid. If she really does have a medical issue I can’t imagine the judgement she must endure.
Don’t drag me into this hostile bee’s nest. I’ve no interest in convincing others of my righteousness, so I’m not emotionally invested in this argument. But did you bother to read my other post? I was that kid with a food issue. I mucked around in my food because I dreaded gagging it down.
Don’t assume you know how others feel based on one throwaway comment. I love teens, and chose that age group when I was a social worker. I stand by my statement: teens aren’t the most predictable or reliable humans on the planet, and do a lot of weird things during puberty. Things that often deny reason and explanation. That observation in no way discounts their worth as human beings. Feel free to start at “Great teenagers I have known” thread.
Huh? I don’t get your hostility. I was answering your general question why some posters feel passionately about this thread (I assumed some of my posts qualified as being ‘in a snit’). It has nothing to do with anything you did or didn’t say.
No, it really doesn’t. I wasn’t even thinking of fast food, I was mostly thinking of frozen foods. Pizza, chicken nuggets, fries…don’t even need to leave the house for them any more. I’m talking about the sister in law who will order Greek food for the grown ups and put a sheet of chicken nuggets in the oven for the kids while waiting for the delivery driver.
Is this the case of the family in the OP? No idea. There are lots of interesting speculations in this thread, and I think any one of them *could *be true. I do know that my now 9 year old niece can’t handle a fork, and I’m not sure when she’s going to get the practice to change that, so my speculation is just as possible as anyone else’s.
“Fucking spoiled”? Never used the words. Wouldn’t use the words. Undereducated, perhaps.
Have you ever followed McGiver’s posts? He absolutely means his absolutes, just like he thinks a double punch (2x fists) is literally the hardest blow the human body can generate.
Hey, I just realized that everyone was posting so profusely that I’d missed a whole page, so I finally had time and caught up on my reading. Lo Ünd Behold, there was a shout out from Nzinga.
Just want to lighten up this crabfest by saying I’m proud to have a nosy ass. If only I could get a NEA grant to have a camera crew follow me around, I’d be glad to accost total strangers and ask them “What be up witchoo?”
side note: I am so friendly (with an embarrassing lack of boundaries), I could’ve gotten Ms. Smells Like Teen 'Tude to come clean about her behavior. Then I would’ve gotten dad and daughter laughing about it, and, after they bought me coffee and dessert at the little pie place down the block, they would’ve headed for home as bestest of friends.
side side note: I was a strict dad, and my kids usually gave up and ate “the green stuff” because they knew they’d be going to bed hungry otherwise. Now I’m glad I was unswayed by their legal arguments and courtroom theatrics.
That’s the reason why Plumpy Nut is such a miracle intervention- the kids will actually eat it. Previously, therapeutic feeding used unpalatable oil-based concoctions, and even laced with sugar it was tough to get malnourished children (who are often listless and apathetic) to choke it down. It required a fair amount of manpower to administer it. Plumpy Nut, on the other hand, is tasty enough that kids think of it as a treat and eat it without much prompting. You can just hand it to them and they’ll eat it.
