Rhonda Dunaway
04-16-2009, 09:06 AM
I don't know what forces may be at work inside of me, but whenever I'm at a seminar or meeting where someone is promoting a service or product that they emphatically claim will radically alter my life in some way, I can't help it, I am seized by a wild urge to start cracking on the product or service in question. I guess you might say that I feel duty bound to keep consumer skepticism alive and well.
Case in point, I recently attended a seminar where a "health care professional" was touting a number of, shall we say, very "non-traditional" methods for dealing with a variety of physical and mental health problems. Said "health care professional" was also strongly promoting an extremely expensive line of supplements that could, of course, only be purchased in her office. In the somberest of tones, she warned us of the evils of allowing our children to ingest nothing more than a diet of grocery store foods and Flintstone vitamins. I couldn't help it. I raised my hand and with a completely deadpan expression and manner, said, "Well, yeah, of course Flintstones are out, but Spider-Man Gummies are fine, right?" Several of the audience members around me started laughing, but the speaker was horrified and rushed to say that no, it wasn't alright and that my son's nutrition and development were being seriously compromised. Really? Wow -- I had no idea! I mean, I grew up on Flintstone's vitamins, and I'm just fine. More or less.
Case in point, I recently attended a seminar where a "health care professional" was touting a number of, shall we say, very "non-traditional" methods for dealing with a variety of physical and mental health problems. Said "health care professional" was also strongly promoting an extremely expensive line of supplements that could, of course, only be purchased in her office. In the somberest of tones, she warned us of the evils of allowing our children to ingest nothing more than a diet of grocery store foods and Flintstone vitamins. I couldn't help it. I raised my hand and with a completely deadpan expression and manner, said, "Well, yeah, of course Flintstones are out, but Spider-Man Gummies are fine, right?" Several of the audience members around me started laughing, but the speaker was horrified and rushed to say that no, it wasn't alright and that my son's nutrition and development were being seriously compromised. Really? Wow -- I had no idea! I mean, I grew up on Flintstone's vitamins, and I'm just fine. More or less.