Thursday, July 16, 2009
Eating disordered minded customer
A customer just came into the frozen yogurt store with her daughter. Both of them are pretty overweight (not sure if that's relevant). Her daughter (about 10 years old) ordered chocolate NF fro yo with chocolate chips. The sweet little girl asked her mom if she wanted a bite. This obviously slightly annoyed the mom, who answered, in a disgruntled and angry tone, "No! I can't afford to eat all that fat!" (Now watch the daughter go develop and eating disorder). Based on the mom's tense facial expression, she clearly wanted to eat something but felt like she shouldn't. She then proceeded to tell me that she can't eat fat because she needs to watch her weight. I told her that all of our flavors are non-fat and, in addition, we have three flavors that also have no added sugar, no lactose, are very light, and don't have artificial sweeteners either. I asked her if she would like to try anything. She said that she can't eat fat or sugar becuase she has to lose weight. But she kept staring at the menu, wanting to find something "acceptable" to order. I asked her if she wanted to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter, which, I explained, is a very low-sugar and non-fat flavor. She responded in a tone that implied that I clearly hadn't understood her need to lose weight. She said, "No! I can't eat fatty things like chocolate!" (She obviously didn't understand that the Chocolate Peanut Butter was fat free and contained very little sugar - 2 grams per 4 oz). I didn't bother re-explaining that it was fat free and low sugar. She kept staring at the menu, her forehead wrinkled and tense. I told her that my favorite flavor today was cookies and cream and offered to give her a sample. "No!" she said, "I can't eat fatty things like cookies and cream!" She seemed mad that I had tempted her. I told her one last time that they are all non-fat. I told her that eating frozen yogurt isn't bad and that the flavor doesn't change the nutrition facts. I offered to show her an ingredient list. In the end, she ordered Pistachio. "I'll just have Pistachio," she said, obviously ordering a flavor she didn't really want and clearly upset from this experience. So I gave her pistachio. Somehow she wasn't really aware that pistachio ( a flavor she doesn't like but deems "healthier" and "Better" ) has the same nutrition facts as the chocolate (a flavor she associates with "bad" and "fatness.") Here's the funny thing: The pistachio had about 3x as many calories as the low-sugar, non-fat Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolate Strawberry, and Butterscotch and the same number of calories as the non-fat Chocolate, Cookies and Cream, and Berry Cheesecake. I wouldn't be surprised if she ate the whole frozen yogurt in a frenzied, anxious, guilt-ridden haste and then proceeded to eat a bunch of higher calorie chocolaty things at home in search for actual satisfaction. I'm sure she left the frozen yogurt store still on the prowl for something more satisfying. Meanwhile, her daughter is witnessing all of this while consuming the exact ingredient that her mom is denying herself and learning to equate certain foods with fatness and badness.
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That's sad that her daughter had to witness all of that, but funny that the lady was that stubborn and stupid.
ReplyDeleteCookies and cream is my favorite flavor too. I was thinking, right before I read this post, that maybe I'd get some, if they have it, after class tonight. I'd probably be able to decide better if I WEIGHED MYSELF!!!
Good girl - stay off that scale and be as confused about the reason as you want but just commit to the process and stay off it :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
Ugh, how annoying! I would have shoved some fatty concoction down that ladie's throat!
ReplyDeleteCan you tell that I belong in the service industry :)?
are you still liking the new place?
Geez. I do feel for her, as she was obviously in turmoil, despite her attitude problem, but the saddest part of the story is the little girl that probably sees that scene repeated several times a day.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's just trouble all around. I feel so bad for the little girl and the influnce she had that day from her mom. And I feel so bad for the mom for having such sad, horrible, issues. And it must have been really hard for YOU to see all of this happening, because the truth is, you've been there and little did they know how much of it all you really do understand.
ReplyDelete