Pillars of health -- Employees of the medical profession...

Yesterday, while spending too much time at the clinic here in town, I observed things that both annoyed and surprised me. Somehow, I've mostly overlooked these things in the past, but I was there for a LONG time yesterday, and had too much time to think and analyze.

1. The number of people who work in the medical profession that smoke. As I walked back and forth from and in and out of the buildings at the clinic, I was alarmed by just how many people in scrubs were standing outside smoking. As I exited the building one final time, I literally counted 8 women in scrubs, standing just outside the clinic doors, smoking. To me, this is like dental hygenists that don't floss. There's a connection not being made for these people. When you work to keep others healthy, why not take the plunge yourself and work to prevent yourself from getting smoking-related diseases (lung cancer, emphysema, throat cancer, etc.)? It just makes NO sense to me.

2. The number of people who are overweight or obese. I realize this is a touchy subject, but for most people, being overweight or obese was preventable at some point too. You have NO idea how annoying it was for the nurse to tell me that I had gained 4 pounds too many when I was pregnant with Avery, when she herself was struggling to get up from the stool she had sat down on to criticize me. Now, I didn't take it personally, since she was only doing her job, but it begs the question: if you know that losing weight leads to better health, and preach that everyday, why not practice it yourself?

I guess it's just one of those 'practice what you preach' things, and I was not in the greatest of moods after spending my entire day there. Bah humbug.