Message in a Bottle

Erin writes,

“I wanted to ask you to do a column related to how much our society judges women and girls by their appearance. This competitive atmosphere has caused me to lose friends to anorexia as they drove themselves to attain "perfection" and didn't live to tell about it. Jerry Hinkle of Holabird Advocate blogging fame, thought it was funny to point out how much "older" I looked on KELO on Monday. His insensitive actions have caused me to leave the blogging world in terms of posting or participating actively. I am extremely offended by conversations that involve anyone's appearance as opposed to other more important attributes.”

Well, I was never one to pass notes back and forth for other classmate in class for fear I would get caught (my father is a retired judge and I have always had a healthy respect for authority figures) yet Erin once again raises a good point. Eating disorders are serious and too often have fatal consequences.

So, as I was struggling with my ambivalence you can imagine my relief after reading Jerry posted his own apology on his site where he concludes,

“I want to say that I was out of line, I know that, and I will do better in the future. I had no business trying to make a joke at Erin's expense. For that let me say to Erin, Grandma Bergit, All of the Holabird Advocate Readers, and to the Heavenly Father himself, that am sorry.”

That is very nice Jerry. This is a big step. A courageous step too. It is a good first step.

Now I can only speak for myself (I’ll let Erin, Grandma Bergit, all of Jerry’s readers as well as the big dude watching over all of us do their own talking) although, to take thing to the next level, and really level things out between you, Erin and the readers, well, I think you ought to post a photo of yourself on your blog.

You know, give us to a chance to see what you look like. And then don’t forget to post of a picture of you from behind. Don’t be afraid to show us your business. That would be important in our evaluation as well. And then we could talk about how you look and offer our suggestions for what you could do to enhance your appearance. That would be fair wouldn’t it?

I am only kidding. Jerry I am glad you offered the public apology. It appeared sincere and heartfelt. And Erin, I really think you ought to create your own blog rather than try to communicate your concerns through hopeless surrogates like myself. You do a much better job of explaining your perspective than anyone could ever do.