From Arkansas, a father of two children posts on an internet forum a query: is there anything the matter with his allowing his kids an occasional snack on a dietary supplement that is primarily intended for adult use. A personal trainer in Manhattan replies that it’s probably okay, certainly better than one of the candy bars that are constantly in reach of kiddies’ hands in grocery store check out lines. A bright guy in Canada who’s not satisfied with a Ph. D. and accordingly is starting medical school enters the discussion, speculating on the effects in later life of being allowed as a very young child to snack on something that looks a bit like a Snickers bar. But then he suggests that his present existence as unmarried non-father may reduce the value of any advice he might offer on the original question. At this point, a businessman in Chicago who embodies as well as anyone on earth the classical ideal of a sound (and very inquisitive and well-furnished) mind in a sound (if recently subject to a surgeon’s intrusive intervention) body, chimes in. He argues that bachelorhood doesn’t devalue excellent nutritional advice, except for one little item involving carrots. The Canadian physician-to-be returns to the discussion, describing an episode in recent contemporary life involving carrots and the fight against obesity. Then, out of the blue, in dazzling fashion, the wife of the father from Arkansas puts in her two cents. (It seems that she read what her husband wrote--which under some circumstances can be downright injurious to a marriage!) She adds the wise note that fruit juices are not nearly as salubrious as whole fruits. And then she addresses that ancient and primal question: how can you get your children to eat cottage cheese. Then the future doctor from Canada goes back to a neglected topic barely broached in an earlier post, the nutritional needs of children for protein.
I don’t want to hijack this remarkable series of posts, nor interrupt it, just comment: my God, what a conversation this is! And it’s the real thing, pure philosophical conversation on questions of value, responsible behavior toward the children one brings into the world, and the very substance of life. And none of these people, if I have it right, have met any of the others.
Except of course for the man and the woman from Arkansas who want to do right nutritionally (and spiritually) by their offspring.
__________________
"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." William Gibbs McAdoo. US Vice-President under Woodrow Wilson.
|
Linear Mode
