We often get posts here asking about a food someone wants to eat, is looking for, etc. This often comes in the Cafe Society category. I don’t want to be an ass and say “you shouldn’t be eating that crap”, but really, they shouldn’t be eating that crap. I think I’ve always declined on commenting, but many of these foods are known to be the cause of the fattening of US and the increase in diabetes, heart disease, etc. Should I just shut my mouth and move on, or do we have an obligation to say “that shit is not healthy?”. If someone came in here asking if they should start smoking, I think plenty of folks would say they shouldn’t. And no, I’m not a MAHA person (fuck dipshit RFK Jr).
Sorry if this has been a previous hashed out topic, but my searches were not fruitful.
Absolutely never. It is absolutely impossible to say without being an asshole.
What about saying you shouldn’t be smoking? Or drinking excess alcohol? Also an asshole?
Do you think you are telling somebody anything that they don’t already know? No? Then keep it to yourself.
I agree with @Darren_Garrison . It’s going to be damned difficult for the OP to “opine” on these topics without coming across as a scold, a busybody, and/or a plain old asshole.
It’d be one thing if it was a topic where people engage in “risky” behavior with no knowledge of risk. It’s pretty safe to assume that the people on this board know that a fast-food diet isn’t good for them, smoking isn’t good for them, and drinking a lot isn’t good for them; it’s also pretty safe to assume that they have heard this message a bazillion times already.
I don’t think the occasional consumption of unhealthy food is going to make someone fat, diabetic or cause heart disease. So why not assume that the person asking normally eats healthily and that this is a rare indulgence?
I’ve kept it to myself, but I feel if someone came in asking about drinking a fifth of vodka every day, people would have something to say. Or, they smoke two packs of cigs and are disappointed their favorite smoke is discontinued, people would have something to say. Eating yourself into health issues is something that should be ignored.
I will continue to refrain on these topics.
Reflect on how many friends militant vegans make.
Have you seen posts like this? Yes, “I’d like to become a heavy-drinking alcoholic” is different from “I see that Wendy’s has come out with a new bacon cheeseburger; is it any good?”
I will assume that. But some of the threads make it obvious it isn’t occasional.
Could you link to one of those threads? Or send it to me privately if you prefer.
Very true. I will continue to shut my trap.
No, but could you imagine the responses here if someone said they were going to take up smoking?
Again, I will shut my trap on those threads. I now know how the board feels about food. The occasional bad food ingestion is not what I was referring to. I do that.
Sorry - I’m not good at many responses coming in. I’m an occasional poster. I can send you the one that made me post this if like.
Your original point was coming across, at least to me, as “if someone asks about ‘where can I find this certain junk food’ or ‘I’d like to try this certain junk food,’ I want to know if I should advise them that that’s bad for you.”
It would apply to any life choices that you decided it was your business to decide for someone else. And it applies to everyone, everywhere. Nobody anywhere appreciates someone else appointing themselves to be the boss of them.
I ride motorcycles. I also ride bicycles at high speeds down steep grades regularly. Yep, I get it.
I think at this point, the board should know that I GET IT.
I will keep my yap shut at what I perceive as bad life choices on others. We all make risky choices.
Thanks for opening my eyes.
I have a very unusual diet. I only eat the same five or six bland things over and over, like I was a child, and I’m fine with that. Plenty of people ask the same questions, have suggestions on how I should break out of this habit, or think sneakily hiding foods I don’t like inside other foods is some sort of clever victory. To you I say what I do to them: Leave me alone, it’s my stomach, I’ll eat what I want.
ETA: I composed this having not seen your previous post. Sorry to pile on some more.
I think most people would rightfully say “maybe you should reconsider”, because it seems like the poster has perhaps not considered all the factors that go into that. But if someone says, “I occasionally smoke cigarettes. I know it’s bad for me but every once in a while they really are pleasurable. So I usually smoke Camels, but I’ve heard that French Gauloises are really at another level. Anyone have experience and can comment on them?”, then I would think the most helpful and appropriate responses would be to give your personal experiences with those cigarettes, not to lecture on how smoking is bad for you in general.
This.
We have absolutely no such obligation. Why on earth would you think we have an obligation?
The only exception might be if someone started a thread along the lines of, “I know I eat mostly junk like the following (lists crappy diet), so would y’all help me sort out the really junky stuff from the not so bad stuff and also educate me about better choices?”
IOW if someone asks for it.
I suppose that could happen.
You get to tell your kids and maybe your SO, what to eat.
Otherwise you’re interfering with their choice.
Yeah, don’t do that.
Some people take that kind of chiding well, others don’t.