For five years now I have been working part time at Trinity Broadcasting Network. TBN is the largest religious television network cable organization in the world. The data entry studios is in Tustin, CA. You may have scrolled through your tv and caught a glimpse of people preaching in front of an audience. You can't miss Jane Crouch, she sticks out like a clown being spotted at a baptism. Her hair is pink; I'm talking about bright pink, my little pony pink and probably used a whole case of Aquanet to keep that hair up. I do many different things for TBN. I work primarily during the telethons.
TBN host telethons bi-annually. One in the fall and one in the spring. Each telethon will host a week of live shows of well known Christan preachers and pastors. They have a large following all over the globe. They will host a re-run week during the second week of the telethon. In 2011, TBN collected 824 million dollars of pledges, in essentially 4 weeks.
I work here because I am intrigued with how this place is run. All money collected is tax free. The people that work here are die hard fans of TBN and would do their jobs for free. I still work here because of something different. I am here to study the workforce, to study the administration and compare it to other organizations. You see, TBN is a cult. The people here are the nicest people I have ever met. Some people have been working here for over 20 years!
What I have been noticing today is the heavy breathing all around me. Everyone here is overweight. Right now I am hearing conversations about managing their diabetes. Taking about when is it ok to eat cookies. I see people walking like they have been wounded. They are not even aware about this. People are not aware that their weight is causing major health problems. In the break room there are doughnuts, boxes of sweet n low for their coffee and a lot of fast food for their meals. A lady is making a KILLING right now selling her girl scout cookies for her daughter. I see bean dip being consumed by the spoonful. Everyone is anxious and desperate to have their 15 minute break to eat.
I forgot about life outside of my very own lifestyle. So this is what our society currently looks like. I am starting to think that the statistics today on obesity and diabetes do not do its justice. As I sit here enjoying my raw bell pepper, I feel sick to my stomach to understand that these people are oblivious that they are taking years away from their lives. They have lost hope and accepted their toxic state of being.
How Ironic is it that everyone is praying for their health. They are praying to God to help with their sickness. The majority of prayer request I get on the phone lines are related to health. Cancer, heart surgery, diabetes. People are pledging their money, in some cases everything they have in hopes that the Lord will respond with healing for all of them. All while the administration is supplying doughnuts and coffee and bean dip to their workforce... for this I am intrigued. The people here are sold, they are helpless and will not accept anything I mention regarding to nutrition and fitness. Everyone I talked to hasn't let me finish my sentence about my fitness regimen. They break off to sharing their participation with conventional wisdom.
TBN host telethons bi-annually. One in the fall and one in the spring. Each telethon will host a week of live shows of well known Christan preachers and pastors. They have a large following all over the globe. They will host a re-run week during the second week of the telethon. In 2011, TBN collected 824 million dollars of pledges, in essentially 4 weeks.
I work here because I am intrigued with how this place is run. All money collected is tax free. The people that work here are die hard fans of TBN and would do their jobs for free. I still work here because of something different. I am here to study the workforce, to study the administration and compare it to other organizations. You see, TBN is a cult. The people here are the nicest people I have ever met. Some people have been working here for over 20 years!
What I have been noticing today is the heavy breathing all around me. Everyone here is overweight. Right now I am hearing conversations about managing their diabetes. Taking about when is it ok to eat cookies. I see people walking like they have been wounded. They are not even aware about this. People are not aware that their weight is causing major health problems. In the break room there are doughnuts, boxes of sweet n low for their coffee and a lot of fast food for their meals. A lady is making a KILLING right now selling her girl scout cookies for her daughter. I see bean dip being consumed by the spoonful. Everyone is anxious and desperate to have their 15 minute break to eat.
I forgot about life outside of my very own lifestyle. So this is what our society currently looks like. I am starting to think that the statistics today on obesity and diabetes do not do its justice. As I sit here enjoying my raw bell pepper, I feel sick to my stomach to understand that these people are oblivious that they are taking years away from their lives. They have lost hope and accepted their toxic state of being.
How Ironic is it that everyone is praying for their health. They are praying to God to help with their sickness. The majority of prayer request I get on the phone lines are related to health. Cancer, heart surgery, diabetes. People are pledging their money, in some cases everything they have in hopes that the Lord will respond with healing for all of them. All while the administration is supplying doughnuts and coffee and bean dip to their workforce... for this I am intrigued. The people here are sold, they are helpless and will not accept anything I mention regarding to nutrition and fitness. Everyone I talked to hasn't let me finish my sentence about my fitness regimen. They break off to sharing their participation with conventional wisdom.
Its pretty sad... I am fairly new to Paleo and after knowing what I know now, I definately try to spread the word and it almost makes me sick to see what people are putting into their bodies. You are what you eat. It also really upsets me that people with type 2 diabeties can do things to prevent it and don't. My boyfriend is diabetic, type 1, has been diabetic since the age of 2. I see his struggles and I wish there was something he could do or change to make it go away but thats just not the case. People enjoy living blind and ignorant.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, I think this is an amazing blog! I think there are many factors that play a part in all of this. I wish it could be so simple as to people simply not being aware. The fact is that many people are aware, but they do not have the tools to allow a life change. It could be financial, it could be lifestyle(too busy and overwhelmed) Trust me, I know there are many people who make the sacrifices and they look down upon people who are no or do not make the same, but really it may not be that easy for some. I would love to see large organizations, Whole Foods or trader Joes, or any other organic company put together a non profit in which they can go to schools and not just tell kids about healthy eating but provide scholarships for their families to be able to have better options. Many people cannot afford gas, let alone eating healthy. I used to work for a Natural/Organic Lunch company for kids, we worked with large companies to bring healthy lunches to inner city schools at the rate of regular school lunches. It was the most amazing thing to be a part of, as many of these kids didn't have the means to even eat dinner, they were only getting the one meal a day at school, which was full of carbs. I remember one kids asking what a KIWI was. I love the idea of helping people, or people taking initiative, but the only way we will be effective in saving the future generations is not just a few of us working at our health, diet and exercise, but as a communtiy, as a state as a nation. We need to change the habits of our kids in America. Don't even get me started about the fast food chains... so frustrating! However, in the short of it, we cannot expect people to share the same ideas or views as us, we can simply plant the seed and lead by example. They must take the reigns for their own life. Hard to do.
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