There is a new law being passed in several states that requires all chain restaurants to put the nutrition information on each of their dishes right on the menu. The hope is that people will realize that the "healthy" salad they were about to order actually has 450 more calories than the basic cheeseburger, or that the saturated fat in the pasta sauce could sink a cruise liner. The thought was that the information could be used by people so that they would make smarter choices.
Surprisingly, or not, the label thing isn't working out so well. In fact, some restaurants have seen an INCREASE in fatty food consumption. It's as if people look at the labels and say, "what the heck, today is as good a day as any for a heart attack" Personally, I think we just get discouraged, so we give up trying to be better.
Labels, of any kind, are human nature. We like to know where things fit in our world. So we look at everything and place it into a category. For my boys right now, they sort by boy and girl. That Tonka truck? boy's toy. The pink tea set? girl's toy. As we get older our categories get more detailed and extensive. In high school I had hang-out friends, hallway-during-passing-period friends, sleep-over friends, wish-I-could-be friends, and only a couple secret-telling friends. We all do it, so don't act so innocent. We all look at the new person at work and make a snap judgement or two. It's okay as long as you allow yourself the flexibility to change your mind as you get to know them.
And yet, don't you get angry when people slap a label on you? I do. I remember in college I wanted to do something a little out of the ordinary, so I decided I'd get my eye brow pierced...not exactly sure what kind of doors I thought a hole in the head would open, but hey, I was young. My stepdad didn't talk to me for weeks after. It was as if my label in his head had changed from "good, never been in any trouble, daughter" to "rebel child". All for a $35 silver bar and bottle of antiseptic. It made me so angry that such a temporary thing would cause such an overblown response. I took it out, we never speak of it. I must be getting old because now when I see a young girl with a hole in her lip, I make judgments too. Unfair, yes. Inaccurate... maybe.
We label ourselves too. Just look at Facebook and other social sites. Within five seconds on a person's page you know their political stance, religion, martial status, and slew of other unhelpful, surface information to help you determine what? If they will be a suitable cyber-friend? One of the reasons the food legislation is tanking is that is a dang hard to label all the contents of a plate of food. Serving sizes vary, individual cooks vary. The same holds true for labels on people...we vary.
Be careful what you label yourself with. You leave very little room for maneuvering. If you label yourself an environmentalist and then use a plastic bag, people might call you out. If you call yourself a rebel and then pay your taxes you'll be laughed off your anti-government blog. Don't pay and end up in jail...also a government institution..so you've got no options.
I really don't want to go any further on this topic, but I started this blog to help other people so stopping now wouldn't be fair..I haven't left much room for manuevering I guess :) I wish I could say more now, but I just can't. I will tell you all everything, just not today. Sorry if this post has seemed disjointed. I've re-written it about a dozen times. I'm going to stop now. Lucky...out.
