I’ll Take the Slow Painful Death, Please
November 28, 2006
A couple of months ago I mentioned that I’d received an injury while donating blood. It was the first time I’d ever donated and it was the first time in about 15 years that I’d had blood drawn. One of the benefits of donating blood (other than the special feeling of knowing you’re helping someone else) is that you get your blood tested for all kinds of nasty things. If the blood center finds anything, they contact you and let you know.
Luckily, I didn’t get a phone call about anything bad. I did, however, use a serial number they gave me to check the results on their website. For one, it tells you your blood type and since I had no clue what I was, it was nice. I’m O+ by the way. Keep me in mind if you need some. The other thing the website tells you is your cholesterol. I was especially curious about that, seeing as how I’m quite aware of the atrocious diet that I consumer. What? You thought I got this manly physique watching what I ate?
Not surprisingly, it was high. Real high. They say under 200 is the goal to shoot for. I’m way off target. And while it concerns me a little, and I’ve started paying a little attention to what I’m consuming, I haven’t really altered my habits much. But I know I’m not alone.
Even though we know some of the things we do are killing us, a lot of people just don’t care about their health and their unhealthy habits.
Millions of people around the world smoke… and drink… and do drugs… and engage in unsafe sex… and stuff their faces… and abuse their bodies… and they just don’t care. Not until it’s usually too late. Even if something happens that snaps their attention to the unhealthy things they’re doing, it usually has to be something catastrophic to really affect them. And I wonder why that is?
Do we not value our own lives?
I know I value mine. I take all sorts of precautions to avoid dying every day. I buckle my seat belt. I look both ways before crossing traffic. I never run with scissors and I hardly ever take candy from strangers. I mean… I was the guy at the hospital that sanitized his pen to keep from getting germs on it. Yes… they laughed at me. I’d never step out in front of a bullet. I’d never jump off a cliff. I’d never even jump off a cliff with a parachute.
Do we not value life in general?
I value life in general. At least I think I do. It pains me to see death. Not just human death, either. I hate seeing animals die. I hate seeing roadkill. Hell… I hate seeing nature in action during the killing and eating of one animal by another. I don’t like seeing people get hurt. When someone trips and falls I have the urge to laugh. Come on… it’s human… we all have the urge. Don’t act like you don’t have the same thought. But I never laugh until after I’ve made sure they’re not hurt. Again, the same is true for animals. When I see people abusing animals I have to resist the urge to repay the favor and abuse the person.
So what overrides those values and allows people to kill themselves slowly, and often painfully, with unhealthy, preventable habits?
Why do people with high cholesterol keep eating nasty, fatty foods? I do because I like them. I won’t lie. I’m a sucker for cheese. I love things that are fried. And the more butter, the better. I eat the way I do because I enjoy it. I know I could stop. I know I could change my habits. I know I could exercise. But the honest reason I don’t is simple: I don’t want to. Those things are unpleasant to me and I’d rather just keep stuffing my fat face because those things make me happy.
Why do people who smoke and drink continue to do so? Why do people who do drugs keep shooting up and puffing and snorting? Why do people who engage in unsafe sex keep screwing around? The answer is the same for all of them. Pleasure, pure and simple. They enjoy those things, regardless of the consequence. And it would appear that the joy of today outweighs the consequence of tomorrow. So even though we avoid the obvious quick-death things in life, we throw ourselves on the mercy of tomorrow just hoping and praying that whatever unhealthy thing we’re doing today won’t come back to kill us slowly tomorrow.
So is this part of the normal pursuit of happiness? Is this something that the majority of the population is guilty of to some degree? Even the healthy, gym-crazed fitness nuts have to do something unhealthy from time to time, right?
Is it justifiable to live a life for today regardless of tomorrow’s consequence when you know that anything could happen? Tomorrow I could walk out of the apartment and be killed by a falling brick. Mr. Health Nut could have worked hard, sacrificed a lot, and never just let himself go… only to die of a stroke next week. If someone enjoys smoking are we wrong to condemn their behavior knowing that the last cigarette they enjoy smoking might be the last thing they ever enjoy doing?
I’m not advocating dangerous habits. I’m not giving the green light to alcoholism or drug abuse or unsafe sex. For one, those things affect a lot of people other than the one doing them. Those behaviors are not solitary habits that affect only the person partaking of them. Unhealthy eating doesn’t affect anyone but the hoss doing it. Smoking only kills the person inhaling, assuming there aren’t second-hand smoke issues at play. Risky thrill-seeking activities like skydiving don’t hurt anyone else, either. But I’m not even condoning unhealthy eating or smoking or skydiving. I’m not saying any of these things are activities we should all run out and adopt.
I’m asking if the “don’t care” attitude is understandable. I’m wondering if it’s the combination of pleasure and uncertainty about life that leads to the massive amounts of unhealthy, high-cholesteroled, smoking, drinking, drugging, sexing, risk-taking people out there.
You know… the ones who don’t want to get shot and killed today… but who apparently don’t mind slowly withering and dying a painful death tomorrow…
Posted in Human Nature, Noteworthy, Personal
November 29th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Totally understandable…and selfish.
Understandable because we like to do the things we enjoy; what feels good. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow but we know that the chocolate cake is going to taste damn good right now. I’m not one to engage in any kind of ‘risk taking’ behavior myself, but I forget (or repress) that not eating healthy and excercising is risky, too.
And, it’s selfish because most of us have people who care about us and want us to live long healthy lives so the slow, painful death could affect them too. But, my Mother passed away from an aneurism at the age of 22 and I hope she ate the cake and enjoyed it without worry because you never know what’s in store for you.
November 30th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
I just ate a whole totinos pizza and I’m happy :) I’m about to go smoke a cigarette, too.
December 1st, 2006 at 7:48 am
Melissa: You’re not alone. I think a lot of people (myself included) don’t consider eating and/or exercising habits “risky”. You also raise a very good point: it is selfish. And I can understand the way other people might feel watching someone they care about go through the slow, painful death. But I sometimes have to wonder if it doesn’t fall into the selfish for self category of behaviors. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’m just trying to make excuses for myself.
Katie: It doesn’t take a lot to make you happy… does it? Haha.
December 2nd, 2006 at 10:46 pm
Hmmmm.
Cholesterol 85
Resting heart rate 58
BP 118/78 (well, with meds anyway)
Knowing that getting older is not the end of the world but I can sure see it from here. Priceless!
December 3rd, 2006 at 11:05 am
I think you’re forgetting the other “conditions” for which you require meds. Haha.
December 3rd, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Ah yes the “other conditions.” While it’s true that since the incident, I’ve been on a few “medications” but who could fault me?
Better Living Through Chemicals!
December 3rd, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Hahahaha… better living through chemicals :P I forgot how funny that is.
December 16th, 2006 at 10:55 am
loser…value life? …why don’t you just say you are fucking lazy to alter your eating habit? if you don’t have the willingness to alter it, you have to take resposibility of it… this is the way how life works. Don’t blame anyone, or afraid any outcome that will come, because they are all courses of your action, so take resposibility and live with it…old man!
December 16th, 2006 at 6:23 pm
“Why do people with high cholesterol keep eating nasty, fatty foods? I do because I like them. I won’t lie. I’m a sucker for cheese. I love things that are fried. And the more butter, the better. I eat the way I do because I enjoy it. I know I could stop. I know I could change my habits. I know I could exercise. But the honest reason I don’t is simple: I don’t want to. Those things are unpleasant to me and I’d rather just keep stuffing my fat face because those things make me happy.”
If that’s not me taking responsibility I don’t know what it is. Please READ the post before responding to it.