Be VERY afraid!
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008It’s no secret that American news media relies on sensationalism and the fear element – if it isn’t dangerous, threatening and imminent, it isn’t interesting. Even if you are aware of it, however, as an American it is so easy to fall into the trap and have an endless stream of “what ifs” and “oh nos” running through your mind, making life in general seem so worrisome and so difficult.
Each day, news headlines from home look more and more ridiculous and absurd. This morning, for example, I opened my laptop, went to yahoo.com to check my email and was immediately faced with the all-important question “SHOULD YOU FEAR TOMATOES??”
The answer in the article was, naturally, that YES I should fear tomatoes! I should be more worried about tomatoes than anything else, at least until the next catastrophe! I was then conveniently presented with another slew of articles on which tomatoes are dangerous (all of them), why I should stop buying tomatoes (it could kill me!) and what it will do to the farmers once I stop buying them (total industry collapse!). They proved it to me with a headline about a man who DIED from eating salmonella-tainted pico de gallo! Never mind that, in the last sentence, the writer mentioned that the man “also” had cancer, a disease that was found to be the actual cause of death.
These articles led me to more articles about more dangerous foods, other industries that are in TOTAL CRISES, and how I really shouldn’t ever trust anything that I put into my mouth. I SHOULD, however, support the FDA getting a few extra million dollars for new “safety” programs that will save America from the brink of nutritional destruction!
Anyways, the tomato question caused me to immediately burst out laughing as I thought about the utterly “unsanitary” food storage, preparation and serving techniques here in Thailand. No one is fearing food here, they are just enjoying it. There are no regulations or rules or ominous headlines (and I do read the Bangkok Post) – if there were, people would go right on eating.
I can (and will) go on about the topic in much more depth, but I really had to comment on the tomatoes! There is so much more material wealth and comfort in the U.S than there is here – remember, entire families live in the same type of room that I’m living in, and it’s pretty standard. That fact is amazing to me, but what’s more amazing is how many more smiles I see here…
allisonrae