I shared my toddler's hospital bill on Twitter. First came supporters — then death threats.

[El_Machinae]

Ah. Perhaps he could have explained that to me.

There are a few people I will always read more than once if I think I strenuously disagree with the point that they're making, especially when they then say "you've misread what I've written".

But, I had the advantage of seeing what he was trying to say, and knowing the point that you thought you'd seen (and were trying to debunk). I've also seen that bit, where people think that 'good health' isn't a sufficient reward for good choices, and that somehow a terrific financial cost on top of that would incentivise people not to smoke and eat too much grease.

So, paraphrasing was easy for me. I knew what he was trying to say. I knew what you thought you'd seen.

 

[Commodore]

My main take home from this is how important it is to keep your online and real life identities separate. Why this woman is posting pictures of herself and her child online even after getting this obviously dangerous response is beyond me

Yeah, this is pretty much my take on the matter. I think the people throwing so much hate at this woman are absolute scumbags for doing so, but at the same time you have to be prepared to get that kind of hate when you put yourself in the public eye. I think a lot of people really don't understand that concept. When you share something publicly, you are opening it up to criticism and outright hatred just as much as you are opening it up to support and praise.

 

[metalhead]

bills dont drive medical decisions?

I was talking about personal health decisions, decisions about whether to exercise regularly, not smoke, eat right, maintain a healthy weight. Some people argue against universal health insurance by claiming that if you give people insurance, you will take away their incentive for maintaining good health since they can get treatment for whatever ailments come up. I think that is about as absurd an argument as one can make, because people don't decide to live a healthy lifestyle because of medical care they can't receive. The two are quite simply not even related to one another.

 

[Takhisis]

I was talking about personal health decisions, decisions about whether to exercise regularly, not smoke, eat right, maintain a healthy weight.

So why are tobacco products still legal, anyway?

 

[rah]

Probably the same reasons booze is.

 

[metalhead]

So why are tobacco products still legal, anyway?

It is a bit incongruous in a place where assisted suicide is illegal.

Though if we're banning consumables for health reasons, soda and energy drinks should go way before tobacco.

 

[Takhisis]

Yes, but tobacco smoke remains in the air and poisons everyone else who breathes it. Whatever you eat will only directly affect you.
After all, nicotine is used as a pesticide, so I'd rather have an outright ban on tobacco and have those energy drinks and ‘soda’ (USians call them sugarwater, I've heard) taxed very highly –it would force children to ask why it's so expensive as well.

 

[metalhead]

You can solve that problem by banning public smoking apart from designated outside areas that minimize the contact that smoke makes with non-smokers. Many cities already do this or its approximate. Then car exhaust becomes a far more pressing respiratory issue. To say nothing of the fact that most indoor air is probably far more toxic than an outdoor cloud of tobacco smoke, not that the latter isn't unpleasant.

Soda however is liquid death. Energy drinks were developed in hell. The only issue is I occasionally want some tonic for my gin; an outright ban would be most unhelpful.

 

[Takhisis]

Then car exhaust becomes a far more pressing respiratory issue.

Who holds back the electric car?

And yes, an occasional sugarwater for drinks and so on can be great. Energy drinks… eurgh.

 

[metalhead]

Who made Steve Gutenberg . . . a STAR?

Every time I see Four Loko it makes my skin crawl. Even after they got rid of some of the more noxious ingredients. And the thought of drinking Rock Star makes me wanna hurl.

 

[Takhisis]

How come Muricans don't drink tap water when they are merely thirsty? I only drink wine/soft drinks when I want to taste something.