Thursday 14 June 2012

I'm Back From My Mother's

Like most people working in Britain's National Health Service (NHS) my mother has had enough and is looking forward to retirement. So we spent lots of time talking about what sort of house, car, dog she's going to buy after retirement along with some chit-chat about fox cubs and smartphones. I then bored her by insisting on watching the Spain V Republic of Ireland match which the Irish part of me does not want to discuss further. So although I might have had a beer nothing of any interest happened.

The incident though does give you a little fore-taste of what the Olympics will be like. For example last month (May) British Olympic hopeful Hollie Avil spared selectors the bother of not picking her for Team GB by telling everyone who would listen how the pressure to stay thin for the sport forced her to develop an eating disorder. Then a British Parliamentary Select Committee made some big press statements about how Britain was facing a crisis in body image with the number of people suffering eating disorders rising. Finally there was a big furore after someone said British heptathlete Jessica Ennis was too fat. My sister has suffered with various eating disorders for most of her life and by setting the Bristol Abuse Case in motion Britain was hoping to squeeze out all my knowledge in time for them to be world leaders on the subject by 2012.

Now it's 2012 they actually seem to be appealing for any help the world can give them on the matter. You'll excuse me if I don't feel sympathetic.

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