24 ms·

Well, this rebuttal reminds me of "not everyone has the time to exercise, I know someone with three jobs and eight kids." I definitely agree with their charact

Well, this rebuttal reminds me of "not everyone has the time to exercise, I know someone with three jobs and eight kids." I definitely agree with their characterization of these infomercials.

jrq 8y ago
You know what? Honestly? A person who has made that 3-job and 8-kid decision in their life has deliberately compromised their own health. It's not the fault of the world that they made a bad call and sacrificed the time they could have used to stay healthy. Consumers need to be more responsible and skeptical about the choices advertisers want them to make. Don't have so many kids, stay healthy first and foremost, don't develop bad spending habits, do develop good savings habits, and use your job as a vessel to forward your career, and not your paycheck. If you don't have enough time to maintain your health, you have put your own self in that position, some way, somehow. Not you, obviously, but just in general.
- aesclepius 8y ago
  > Consumers need to be more responsible and skeptical about the choices advertisers want them to make. Don't have so many kids, stay healthy first and foremost, don't develop bad spending habits, do develop good savings habits, and use your job as a vessel to forward your career, and not your paycheck. You're speaking from a position of privilege in time, money and access. Many people start out life with involuntary handicaps, physical ailments and hell, just shitty luck. It's very easy to criticize people who made one or two bad decisions (or had bad things happen) early on and have to deal with it.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    I've seen people in the gym three or four times a week that couldn't walk and did upper body exercise. I've seen elderly people with arthritis do water aerobics, my own grandfather with diabetes had his leg amputated and was active until in the field taking care of his cows until he passed. Heck, I have cerebral palsy (mostly affects my left hand and to a lesser extent my left foot) but I was a part time fitness instructor for 12 years, ran 5K - 15Ks. and even now I work out 5 - 8 hours a week. In other words do what you can with in your limits. If you have kids that can walk, take them walking with you. Make them part of your activity.
  - jrq 8y ago
    I'm speaking from three years of homelessness after being independent and nearly homeless at 17 and recovering from several years of alcohol abuse. Don't assume, because it only confirms that you don't know what you're talking about. Even through all of that, I found time to exercise. Even when I was a drunk, hell I still jogged now and then. I'm not saying bad things don't happen, I'm saying having three jobs and eight kids isn't "a bad thing happened"
- groby_b 8y ago
  Right. The lack of good educational resources, poverty, structural imbalances, staggering income inequality, a government that deliberately makes access to contraception hard - all these are clearly deliberate choices to not stay healthy. Maybe that answer is people instead discovering that there's a trait called empathy. That luck and circumstances shape most of our lives. That ignoring that makes you into a horrible human being who's entirely self-centered. Not you, obviously, but just in general.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    Yes there are structural problems. During the height of the recession, the local Y that I taught fitness classes at posted signs telling people that if they couldn't afford their fees just let them know and they would waive their fees. The Y also has child care.
  - jrq 8y ago
    Like I told the other moron, I was homeless, on my own early, and an alcoholic. You're making excuses for people that aren't proactive. I'm not disparaging the poor, I was poor for the majaority of my life, I'm disparaging the poor choices people make to stay there. My mother to this day is an oxycodone addict. My dad is somewhere out there, maybe, I don't know. I didn't let those factors dictate my life. And once I learned how to make better choices, I stopped being homeless, went through a rehab, and got my career together. It was hard, but it was a hard choice I made, for myself. You don't know who I am because of an opinion your reactionary, careless ass misread on the Internet. Get a grip.
    - dang 8y ago
      Hey! You're welcome here. It's good to hear from people who have this kind of firsthand experience. I value it deeply, and I believe the community does too. But we need you to follow the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. It can be annoying to run into comments that seem to deny what you know from experience, give advice you don't need, and so on. But you can't respond by insulting people and calling names (e.g. "moron", " reactionary, careless ass"). It doesn't matter how right you are; being right makes it worse, because it prevents people from hearing what you have to say. So would you please the rules and follow them when posting here?
scarface74 8y ago
My retort is if you put your family before your health and you end up dying young you're no good for your family.
chc 8y ago
I don't think living in an area that's hilly or where it gets uncomfortably hot or cold or has lots of traffic is all that much of an edge case. Those are all pretty common things.
- auxym 8y ago
  Hilly just means you get your exercise in a shorter amount of time ;) Assuming the point is exercise, of course. Bike commuting and utilitary cycling in hilly areas can be more of a challenge, but I'm assuming that if we are comparing to stationary bikes, commuting isn't the point.
- always_good 8y ago
  I live in Guadalajara where I'd be hard-pressed to find a jogging route free of diesel fumes. But I find it sheepish to invoke it in these discussions because I know why I have a treadmill and don't need to defend it. While I think OP is misdirected, I knew all sorts of people when I lived in the suburbs who had exercise equipment they bought for the idea yet it was left unused year round. And the idea of taking a walk outside through the clear air of suburban Texas seemed lost on most of my neighbors who, of those I knew personally, did not have the excuses we like to make up for them in these threads. Though I'm not so sure guilting them in these threads is the most effective way to change behavior -- we probably both agree there.

Well, this rebuttal reminds me of "not everyone has the time to exercise, I know someone with three jobs and eight kids." I definitely agree with their characterization of these infomercials.

jrq 8y ago

You know what? Honestly? A person who has made that 3-job and 8-kid decision in their life has deliberately compromised their own health. It's not the fault of the world that they made a bad call and sacrificed the time they could have used to stay healthy. Consumers need to be more responsible and skeptical about the choices advertisers want them to make. Don't have so many kids, stay healthy first and foremost, don't develop bad spending habits, do develop good savings habits, and use your job as a vessel to forward your career, and not your paycheck. If you don't have enough time to maintain your health, you have put your own self in that position, some way, somehow. Not you, obviously, but just in general.

aesclepius 8y ago
> Consumers need to be more responsible and skeptical about the choices advertisers want them to make. Don't have so many kids, stay healthy first and foremost, don't develop bad spending habits, do develop good savings habits, and use your job as a vessel to forward your career, and not your paycheck. You're speaking from a position of privilege in time, money and access. Many people start out life with involuntary handicaps, physical ailments and hell, just shitty luck. It's very easy to criticize people who made one or two bad decisions (or had bad things happen) early on and have to deal with it.
- scarface74 8y ago
  I've seen people in the gym three or four times a week that couldn't walk and did upper body exercise. I've seen elderly people with arthritis do water aerobics, my own grandfather with diabetes had his leg amputated and was active until in the field taking care of his cows until he passed. Heck, I have cerebral palsy (mostly affects my left hand and to a lesser extent my left foot) but I was a part time fitness instructor for 12 years, ran 5K - 15Ks. and even now I work out 5 - 8 hours a week. In other words do what you can with in your limits. If you have kids that can walk, take them walking with you. Make them part of your activity.
- jrq 8y ago
  I'm speaking from three years of homelessness after being independent and nearly homeless at 17 and recovering from several years of alcohol abuse. Don't assume, because it only confirms that you don't know what you're talking about. Even through all of that, I found time to exercise. Even when I was a drunk, hell I still jogged now and then. I'm not saying bad things don't happen, I'm saying having three jobs and eight kids isn't "a bad thing happened"
groby_b 8y ago
Right. The lack of good educational resources, poverty, structural imbalances, staggering income inequality, a government that deliberately makes access to contraception hard - all these are clearly deliberate choices to not stay healthy. Maybe that answer is people instead discovering that there's a trait called empathy. That luck and circumstances shape most of our lives. That ignoring that makes you into a horrible human being who's entirely self-centered. Not you, obviously, but just in general.
- scarface74 8y ago
  Yes there are structural problems. During the height of the recession, the local Y that I taught fitness classes at posted signs telling people that if they couldn't afford their fees just let them know and they would waive their fees. The Y also has child care.
- jrq 8y ago
  Like I told the other moron, I was homeless, on my own early, and an alcoholic. You're making excuses for people that aren't proactive. I'm not disparaging the poor, I was poor for the majaority of my life, I'm disparaging the poor choices people make to stay there. My mother to this day is an oxycodone addict. My dad is somewhere out there, maybe, I don't know. I didn't let those factors dictate my life. And once I learned how to make better choices, I stopped being homeless, went through a rehab, and got my career together. It was hard, but it was a hard choice I made, for myself. You don't know who I am because of an opinion your reactionary, careless ass misread on the Internet. Get a grip.
  - dang 8y ago
    Hey! You're welcome here. It's good to hear from people who have this kind of firsthand experience. I value it deeply, and I believe the community does too. But we need you to follow the rules: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. It can be annoying to run into comments that seem to deny what you know from experience, give advice you don't need, and so on. But you can't respond by insulting people and calling names (e.g. "moron", " reactionary, careless ass"). It doesn't matter how right you are; being right makes it worse, because it prevents people from hearing what you have to say. So would you please the rules and follow them when posting here?

scarface74 8y ago

My retort is if you put your family before your health and you end up dying young you're no good for your family.

chc 8y ago

I don't think living in an area that's hilly or where it gets uncomfortably hot or cold or has lots of traffic is all that much of an edge case. Those are all pretty common things.

auxym 8y ago
Hilly just means you get your exercise in a shorter amount of time ;) Assuming the point is exercise, of course. Bike commuting and utilitary cycling in hilly areas can be more of a challenge, but I'm assuming that if we are comparing to stationary bikes, commuting isn't the point.
always_good 8y ago
I live in Guadalajara where I'd be hard-pressed to find a jogging route free of diesel fumes. But I find it sheepish to invoke it in these discussions because I know why I have a treadmill and don't need to defend it. While I think OP is misdirected, I knew all sorts of people when I lived in the suburbs who had exercise equipment they bought for the idea yet it was left unused year round. And the idea of taking a walk outside through the clear air of suburban Texas seemed lost on most of my neighbors who, of those I knew personally, did not have the excuses we like to make up for them in these threads. Though I'm not so sure guilting them in these threads is the most effective way to change behavior -- we probably both agree there.