Paula Deen didn't do it!

I seem to be in the minority here but I'm shocked at the reaction of people to Southern Cook, Paula Deen's revelation that she is and has been diabetic for three years.  She is being called all sorts of names because she continued her cooking show in spite of her disease. To my thinking, she has always had a cooking show based on Southern recipes. Traditionally, Southern recipes are rich, savory, and sweet to a greater degree than many cuisines.  She is not telling people they have to eat this stuff. She is just sharing what she has cooked over the years. If I were a diabetic watching the show, I'd enjoy the entertainment value, find the recipes interesting, but be grown up enough to know that they would not fit into my dietary requirements and good for anyone who can or wants to cook that way. It's a free world!

The sense of entitlement and the nanny state mentality seems to slip into every avenue of life these days. The uproar is that Paula Deen didn't tell people she was diabetic yet continued to cook all the wrong foods for a diabetic. First of all, she didn't ever have to reveal her private medical situation. Second, she is cooking traditional Southern cooking with her own twists. I have a Southern cooking book and I have absolutely no interest in whether the author can or should not eat the recipes included there.

It is much like the people who blame fast food places for their obesity problems. I have yet to see them load up people in a truck and force them through the fast food drive-thru and stuff them with fries and fatty hamburgers. People take themselves there. They put the food into their mouths on their own. If it jeopardizes their health, they have no one but themselves to blame. There are commercials for candy and cookies. Should they include a mini-sermon directed at the diabetic and obese about not eating the product they are advertising? No, because adults who have health issues, should educate themselves about what they put into their mouths. And, as parents and adults, we are in charge of what our children eat and drink, too.

I've known a lot of diabetic people over the years and more than a few of them just shrug when I raise my eyebrows watching them consume a sugary treat. One of them just said, "Okay, I know I shouldn't but I'll just inject a bit more insulin to compensate." The person didn't give the family that brought the donuts to the potluck a talk about the dangers of sugar. She knew and ate them, anyway, Isn't that kind of the same thing with Paula Deen? I watch the show for entertainment value. I watch my weight so as soon as she adds two sticks of butter, I know I'm never making that reciple. I don't need her to preface every ingredient addition with a warning.

The whole world will be a better place once we take responsibility for our own actions. Paula Deen's recipes didn't jeopardize any diabetics. Paula Deen's recipes didn't make anyone fat. Not being a grown up in charge of your own destiny compromises your health as the spoon is  in your own hand.