Perhaps you saw an article in this newspaper last week about Cristin McGrath. She lost 280 pounds in 18 months. She went from 410 pounds to 130. She got some advice from a friend who is a nurse and dietitian, but basically, she did it on her own. She didn't even have a personal trainer.
Her story ought to be an inspiration for all those who suffer from a different but similar malady — compulsive outrage disorder. COD sufferers enjoy being outraged.
But the message from the McGrath story is this: You can cure yourself.
This is a topical message because we are heading into a very difficult time for COD sufferers. We are approaching an election season.
COD and obesity have a lot in common. Each is at the end of a slippery slope. Just as it's easy to put on a little weight, it's easy to let yourself get a little upset.
At first, you don't notice those extra pounds. You don't even have to buy new pants right away. You can adjust your pants. Dunlop's disease, we call it. Your belly has done lopped over your belt.
It's the same sort of thing with COD. At first, you can tell yourself that you are not so angry as much as exasperated. Why can't the other side see how foolish they are?
Sadly, there are entire industries working against you. As far as obesity is concerned, you're up against the packaged-food industry, the fast-food industry, Big Dairy, Big Cola and so on and so forth.
With COD, you've got talk radio, cable television and politicians of all stripes.
I remember having coffee with Roy Blunt two years ago as he readied himself for his senatorial campaign. I mentioned that I could not recall seeing the public so angry. He nodded, and not unhappily.
"In politics, the two biggest motivators are fear and anger," he said.
This is true no matter which side of the political spectrum you are on. You want your supporters to be fearful and angry.
So Barack Obama is a socialist who wants to destroy America. Rick Santorum is a religious kook who wants a theocracy.
People believe this stuff. They get worked up. The more worked up they get, the more they listen or watch political shows that reinforce their fears and anger. Down the slippery slope they slide.
In a figurative sense, they soon weigh 410 pounds.
Except it is possible to have a good time with friends who are obese. It is not possible to have a good time with people afflicted with COD. These people cannot turn it off.
Signs of the affliction are everywhere. On the electronic version of this newspaper, we have comment threads. People discuss articles. I generally stick to the dead-tree edition of the paper, but now and then, I sneak a peek at the comment threads. It is like looking at a train wreck.
For instance, Monday's column was about the football stadium. In 1991, supporters of the stadium said a downtown football stadium would result in thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue to the city and state. That turned out not to be true, I wrote.
Where was the politics in that?
One COD sufferer wrote that I had neglected to mention what he called the "biggest boondoggle" of all — the argument that the war in Iraq would be paid for by Iraqi oil.
Once politics enters a thread, rational discussion soon ends. Here was another COD sufferer's response to the comment about Iraq.
"How the hell is George bush responsible for the deterioration of downtown St. Louis??? Are you Nutz??? Only a lefty nitwit could drag gwbush into this! Democrats have run the city for eternity and look at it! Take a look at your trillion dollar deficit clown in the white house! Wha...??? How...??? This is...??? Forget it! You're so far gone and ate up with lefty hate you need real help."
After that posting, the comment thread was shut down.
Similar things happen at bars and dinner tables all over America. One person says something that has nothing to do with politics, but a COD sufferer finds a way to inject politics into the conversation: The other side is stupid! Very quickly, an awkward silence takes over.
Friendships are killed. Family relationships are torn apart.
For that matter, it's probably a health hazard. It can't do a person any good to be furious all the time.
My colleague Harry Jackson Jr. wrote the uplifting story about Cristin McGrath. I would like to write a similar story about a person who has cured himself or herself of COD. If you know of such a story, please contact me. It would be a public service.
