Oprah 2-22-07 Am I the only one?

On Thursday February 22, 2007, Oprah had a show with semi-obese people going on a Best Life Weight Loss Challenge and her personal trainer was supervising it. Did anyone see it?

One lady said she was so depressed over her weight, she stayed in bed and hated to get up. Her infant son would cry for her to wake up so he could eat and she said she would load up his bowl and then go back to bed. Oprah asked her when she would get up and she said when the child cryed to be let down from it's high chair and then she would go back to bed.

She then said she got up and went to the store, when she returned, she heard the child screaming from it's crib. She said she was so depressed, she just went back to bed.

Oprah said "Well, you are just rung out over this weight problem aren't you? You are at the end of your rope" (paraphrasing, as I don't have the transcript).

I thought, this woman isn't fit to be a parent. Leaving an infant unsupervised while they eat and then leaving the kiddo in the crib while she goes to store? Come on!

My question is this, since no one in the audience seemed to think the child was the victim: Am I the only one who thinks this woman is an unfit mother?

The bottom line is Oprah has the ability to make things socially "okay". She has a tremendous following and does a multitude of good, IMO, however, her silence on this one and the total lack of outcry by most everyone shows it is okay to neglect your child if your personal image is poor.

A lady friend of mine told me that depression is a terrible thing and I should understand the woman was in a fix. I told her that if it would have been the husband and his depression drove him to drink to the point he couldn't supervise the child and actually left the child in it's crib to buy booze, Oprah wouldn't of responded that he was out of control, but called it a crime.

The point here is not that it was okay for either man or woman, but the fact that Oprah (who is quite sharp, or very sharp) did not openly point at child neglect as the a greater sin than depression over being overweight.

Being overweight in most countries has always been a sign of prosperity and only in times of ample food and abundance has it come under scrutiny as something undesirable, negative health risk aside.

Oprah put her blessing on the mother's behavior over the child's welfare through her silence and Oprah pretty much decides what is socially acceptable and what is not, to millions of viewers every day.

Wait until the next Presidential election if you doubt it.