The amount of unsolicited food that has shown up in my office over the past month is staggering.
The list includes (but is not limited to): chocolate bars, candy, a large gourmet box of chocolates, pastry, cinnamon buns and home-baked goodies.
The treats come from different sources, some of whom don’t even know each other -- mostly colleagues and friends.
I recognize that I am very, very lucky to be surrounded by people who think about me enough to want to treat me. Wow…
I appreciate and am truly grateful for your friendship, love and generosity. But lately I’ve been positively overwhelmed with little gifts of high-calorie food here and there. I try to share it around, but still… there’s just been too much lately.
Please… enough with the junk food already. Although it hasn’t come to it yet, I’m starting to feel that ‘unsolicited junk food’ may have to go the way of ‘unsolicited junk mail’… in the garbage. Not because I don’t appreciate it… but because I’m overwhelmed by it.
In fact, I’m going to go one step further and ask you for your help in my quest to have a healthier lifestyle. I know your intentions are good… and you think I’ve earned it, I can afford it now or you just want to share… But please… stop.
Instead of food, you can bring other stuff… an interesting or funny news article, for example. I’m a news junkie and lately, I just haven’t had the time to enjoy much news. A thought-provoking article would be a super treat!
So would a funny cartoon. Anything that makes me laugh (especially at this time of the semester) would be delightful.
Hell, just stopping by the office with a smile and a warm hello is a treat in and of itself. After all… it’s your friendship and support that is what I value most.
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10 comments:
I sure thought about that, in sending the fruit cake... but off it went, and a little something extra, in case it was icky, or you just felt- ENOUGH!!!
I know that feeling, people being generous, but then one is left with so much!!!
it's a hard thing, to have gratitude, but yet also know when to say when...
one of the things I learned in my weight classes was that I am NOT a garbage can. and food that is left behind, or sitting around doesn't need to go into ME. that was a revelation! (grew up with the mantra of 'finish your plate'...)
so, a lot of things that go uneaten end up in the bin. not ideal, but better than on my hips... I feel a tad bit wasteful, but at the end of the day, what else can one do?
Thanks, IPM - I sort of asked for the fruitcake though, didn't I? ;-) I'm looking forward to that, actually. I'll let you know when it arrives.
Yes... old "programming" about not wasting food is VERY hard to break! You're my inspiration!
hee hee... OK... shall we substitute for pumpkin pie, say... a spirited article about the effects of sleep deprivation on our society?
oops, almost forgot: IPM... What's this about a garbage can? What about the fridge? I used to - and actually still do - throw the leftovers in the fridge, however small... I work from home, so the tid bits make for a handy little snack... and if from your previous meal chances are, a healthier snack than say... pumpkin pie?
hiya Turtle Guy!
I have no trouble with real leftovers... I'm quite handy with a microwave... :)))
what I mean is seeing food on my kids' plate, and, in the old days, thinking, "Oh, I'll just clean this up for them..."
don't do that anymore!
my two brothers used to tell me stories of how, after I left home, my dad would put all the leftovers in a pot, heat it up, and call it dogamagrali...
that would be dinner for a night. sure glad I was out of the house by then! ha ha ha...
Hmm. not a lot to say on this topic: currently am in hoover-it-all-in mode. I am not, thankfully, the brunt of well-meaning but stunningly fattening edible gestures of affection - come to think of it, you could drop the odd cinnamon bun (hee hee I wrote bum by mistake) off at my place. Always happy to do my share...
and I agree completely on the throw-it-out idea. Too bad you don't have a dog, though they do eventually get upset tummies and that's NO fun.
TG - An article on sleep deprivation would be *most* appropriate! :-)
As for leftovers, IPM, what your Dad did sounds disgusting - with all due respect, of course!
Z - OK, so instead of throwing them out, I'll bring them to you!
You guys rock!
for your reference, I think I'm becoming one of you... dare I say it... a blogger!
http://turtleguy70.blogspot.com/
Hee hee! A cinnamon bum!
It's a nice gesture, and probably, for better or for worse, the easiest and most commonly accepted way to show affection when paying a visit. It is a problem for you to decide what to do with all the food (just leave it on your desk for your students?) but I think it's better for people to assume you like sweets like anybody else than to treat you like they have to ignore food issues altogether in your presence, or worse, save you from yourself, by forgoing the nice thing they would otherwise like to do for you.
What would happen if you politely refused the treats?
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