A matter of principle...

[denny]

Was just talking to azekeil on ICQ and he reminded me of a rant I meant to post when I got out of hospital. The energy has gone out of it now, so it's not a rant, but I think it's still worth posting as a point for discussion:

While I was in hospital there was a fortnight where I didn't really eat much - I was on morphine, which does horrible things to your digestive system, the simplest of them being a loss of appetite. I lost enough weight (given that I started off skinny) that the hospital sent the dietician around to see me, and she recommended that I should be put on those protein supplement drinks. I agreed to this, until they turned up with one the next day and I noticed it was made by Nestle - who I'm boycotting. So I politely refused to drink it...

My dad was pretty narked about this when he turned up that evening - he was trying to tell me that "there comes a time when you can't let principles get in the way of what's good for you"

My answer would have been - if I wasn't too wankered on morphine to think straight at the time - "That's exactly when you find out if you've got principles... or just opinions". I couldn't believe he thought that I should stand down on something like that - regardless of what his opinion of the boycott itself was - just because it was now inconveniencing me.

Comments

[azekeil.livejournal.com]

/me stands up for a principle of his own and insists you correct the spelling of his username...

But yes. I expect your dad could have been a little helpful and brought some non-Nestle protein drinks with him when he next visited..?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

Oh sod. I keep doing that - and I've done it (and double-checked) it so often that the other spelling is generally in my 'recently visited links' history and so I assume I've got it right. If that makes sense?

I got the impression from the hospital that not many people make the things, actually, although I never bothered checking up on it when I got out...

[katishna.livejournal.com]

because i'm a social issue dolt...why are you boycotting nestle?

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

This is why (http://www.breastfeeding.com/advocacy/advocacy_boycott.html). And if it means something to you, here's (http://www.breastfeeding.com/advocacy/advocacy_nestle_products.html) list a list of Nestle products worth avoiding.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

This (http://www.guardian.co.uk/famine/story/0,12128,862655,00.html) was actually the issue that pushed me over into joining the boycott - it was something I'd been thinking I should probably do for a while, but I'm low on moral fibre and they make a lot of things I like, so I'd been thinking about it rather than doing it.

I don't know why this made the difference - I think the whole thing with the milk is so completely outrageous that I didn't emotionally believe in it, whereas the loan thing was quite clearly just a really nasty bit of business policy decision making by a company that had no need to be like that.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

Oh god yeah, I'd forgotten about that... Just so disgusting it's untrue.

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

A thought that just occurred to me when this reply turned up in my inbox, on re-reading what I'd written myself: I class myself there as "low on moral fibre" because it took me so long to join this boycott... but I suppose I can have some pride in the fact that once I did make a decision, at least I meant it.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

That's what I figured :) Your actions show that you had the fibre to stick to your decision once you'd made it, but I can understand making the decision in the first place sometimes needs an extra kick.

[nickys.livejournal.com]

It's pretty appalling that a hospital is using Nestle products.

If I go into a cafe which serves Nescafe I don't drink it and I politely point out to the counter staff that St Johns Church stocks catering sized tins of Fair Trade coffee.

On the general point of principles, yes, I think you're right.

Although I do have some sympathy for your dad too - Sting once did a speech about the poor people who collaborate with illegal logging in the Amazon basin, basically saying that they need to be given support and money from outside to stop this, because nobody's going to put any principle ahead of their children's welfare.
I'd probably give in if Nestle were the only source of medicine for my kids too.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

I guess your dad didn't see it as just an inconvience; he was worried about your lack of nutrition could be doing to you. Obviously you weren't going to die from refusing Nestle in a hospital, but stressed parents always want what's best for you and bugger the rest of the world :)

I'm impressed that you weren't able to think straight enough to state your argument, but still had the presence of mind to refuse the supplements in the first place. I assume they found you something else?

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

No... they said they'd investigate alternative supplements, but a couple of days later they told me that their supplier only carried various types of supplements all made by Nestle.

I managed to wean myself off of morphine not long after that and started eating properly again (fsvo 'properly' recognising the quality of hospital food), so it became slightly less important anyway.

I was apparently the second person to refuse the drinks for this reason. Maybe if enough people do the same, they'll start considering seeking a secondary supplier sometime - I think NHS red tape might make that a long-winded process though.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Complan is Nestle? Bugger, there goes my exam term reserve. Boots and Superdrug do own brand ones I think.

[wildeabandon.livejournal.com]

I couldn't believe he thought that I should stand down on something like that - regardless of what his opinion of the boycott itself was - just because it was now inconveniencing me.

As Peta said, I suspect he saw it as more than an inconvenience. I see your health as more important than any principles(unless going against them would affect your mental health), and I don't think that that's deriding or ignoring things, just acknowledging that everything is relative.

Look at it this way - if it actually came down to a choice between Em consuming Nestle products, or putting herself in danger, would you even have to think about it? My guess is that your dad sees it like that sort of choice...