Hope For Holly

By now, everyone in the Internet space has read Brad G’s Peanut Butter Manifesto at least once.  It is a great read, here’s mine.

I’m sick of peanut butter.  I’m sick of Peter Pan and I’m sick of hearing how a couple of hundred people got sick from eating it.  It sucks, but with the coverage that it is getting, you’d think that the Black Death was upon us.   This year alone, roughly 60,000 Americans will die from colorectal cancer.  For those keeping score, that comes out to about 165 people a day.  I realize it isn’t throwing up a bit over some bad Peter Pan, but it’s pretty bad.

In an effort to get Americans to change their behaviors, I propose that the  New York Times put health facts in the top corner of every issue.

# of Americans to die this year from heart disease: 1,200 people per day

# of Americans to die from cancer: 1,300 per day

# of Americans to die in a car accident: 115 per day

# of Americans to die due to bird flu: probably not a whole lot

# of Americans to die due to bad peanut butter: probably fewer still

Of course, no one wants to be reminded of their mortality and stopping at McDonalds and grabbing a Big Mac and fries is easier than stopping at Whole Foods and grabbing a sandwhich, but at some point, society (all of us), needs a wake up call.

Is some of this spoiled grapes? Yes, of course.  I want my wife’s disease to get all of the attention.  Another part of it is that I want the media to be more responsible for what they are putting out there.  The media in this country has a tendency to peddle fear for profit.  They always have because it sells, but at some point, there needs to be a responsibility checks and balances put into place.

If you were reminded every couple of days more risks, how would you change your life?