> But yesterday afternoon the L.A. radio talk show hosts Ken
>and John did a one hour peanut allergy bashing show that sounds somewhat
>like the article you read in the NY Times.  Their attitude persisted in
>spite of calls from several parents who tried to m ake them understand the
>gravity of the situation.

Of course, most of them are scurrilous b*st*rds whose main purpose is to
tick off a minority by saying outrageous, insensitive, and inflammatory
things that lead the viewers to discount a real, debilitating condition,
etc., becoming, themselves as insensitive as the hosts.

Somebody should challenge them to a demonstration to prove a point. If they
accept, have them do it on the air. Tell them that they have to stick with
the entire challenge or they'll prove that they're the spineless dweebs
that we all suspect they are.

Give them a jar of peanuts. Have them open the jar. Then, have them put on
a nose clip (the kind swimmers use)  and give them a drinking straw; have
them breathe through it for 45 minutes (the minimum time that it takes for
an emergency landing and emergency medical attention).  Make sure that they
continue to carry on their talk show, but inhale only through the straw
between phrases. If they complain, say that they're only having half the
difficulty of someone whose airways are shutting down - at least they can
breathe out without difficulty. If that doesn't phase them, replace it with
a cocktail straw. Then tell them that they can easily get rid of the straw
if they'd only give up the peanuts - say for one or two air flights per
year. QED.

Some people just don't get it until they live it, or see a loved one's life
threatened by it.

The point that most of these commentators and newspeople are missing is
that this is a real, potentially horrible situation that is easily avoided,
and with a very small sacrifice on the part of other passengers. The sneer
and the "what's next" that we heard from the news anchors is due to
laziness or insensitivity, and certainly is not reflective of the
journalistic accuracy and fairness that they get paid the big bucks to
deliver. The bash-talk radio hosts I expect it from, and that's why I never
listen to them. But the news anchors, in a single sneering off-hand comment
about banning perfume or magazines, have had a subtle but profound,
negative influence on 100s of millions of viewers, especially the younger
ones. Such insensitivity can quickly undo years of coaching by their
teachers and parents, and sets them up nicely to become congressmen,
senators, or even - heaven forbid - news anchors.

Sheesh!

Flame off

Mark



____________________________________________________________
Mark Feblowitz                  GTE Laboratories Incorporated
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