Today was a mess of a day. Very long story short, I ended up sitting in a teacher's lounge for 2.5 hours doing work and trying to keep myself busy.
In this lounge there is a pop machine and a vending machine. Staff and teachers wandered in and out the whole time grabbing snacks from the machines. At first I thought nothing of it, but after a few women came in and stopped to talk to me I started paying more attention to what they were saying. None of the women really wanted to talk to me about anything I was doing, they just wanted to justify why they were getting snacks.
I started paying attention to what they were saying. Here's a few examples of what I heard:
"It's not like I really need a snack. I'm just stressed today."
"I don't always do this. It's just a nasty day outside."
"I know I was just in here to get a cookie, but that just didn't do the trick....ohhh Mr. Goodbar! That should do the trick."
A few of the women asked if I wanted them to buy something that I could eat. I told them all thanks, but no thanks. Of course they kept asking. I told them I eat on a schedule. They would ask why I would do that. I told them that it helps me stay accountable.
I did notice that guys were totally different. When they came in they just said hey and got what they needed and left. They also only got sodas. They didn't even go to the vending machine. There was no justification for wanting a soda. They just got what they needed and rolled out.
The women were at the pop machine and the vending machine. They were working really hard to convince me and themselves that it was ok for them to be eating animal crackers, Hersey bars, brownies, Honey Buns (the frosted kind!), and other random junk.
I just thought it was interesting that there was so much justification going on in there. I bet they were all thinking they were going to sneak in and get some junky goodness from the vending machine and no one was ever going to know....but then they saw me working in there and they needed an excuse for being there.
I should have yelled, "I caught you and I'm telling everyone that you eat brownies out of vending machines! You will never convince anyone that you are healthy!" That would have been awesome. I bet a lot of women would have been super pissed off at me.
I have always thought it was so interesting that guys don't feel the need to justify it when they eat junk, but it is so ingrained in women to be ashamed of things like that, to be concerned with what other people think of their choices, that they immediately feel they need to say something about it. It's kind of like how even larger men will wear Speedos and think nothing of it, while most of us women agonize over wearing even a one-piece with shorts over it. It says something about the way our brains have been conditioned.
ReplyDeleteAt my former workplace, I started making little ziploc sandwich bags with 100 calories worth of carrots, grapes, strawberries, etc. in them. I put a container of them in the office fridge, with a styrofoam cup beside it. I asked that people pay 75 cents a piece for my 'hundred calorie packs'. I had two regular buyers, everyone else STILL went for the garbage in the vending machine. There were a LOT of excuses.
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