My 1,000th Post!

Hard to believe - 1,000 posts and likely over 1,000,000 words.

I started Weighty Matters on the recommendation of a friend of mine, Matthew, who's a partner in a PR firm and after chatting with him he suggested that I had a lot to say and perhaps I should consider starting a blog. I guess there's a reason he makes the big bucks in PR as I still can't get over how much noise a small-time doctor with a private practice and a computer can actually make and I'm humbled by it regularly and thanks to the blog I've been able to do many things I never would have expected (like speak in Canada's House of Commons).

So why do I do what I do? I got asked that question last week in a meeting my blog led me to with a very nice VP of publishing at a large Canadian medical company. He wanted to know what my motivation was for writing (and for giving him a hard time about some things from one of his magazines). I explained to him that my motivation's simple - it's the battle of right versus wrong. Not to suggest I'm always right (ask my wife - I'm not), but rather if I feel that there's something, someone, or some group out there that absolutely should know better yet continues to do the wrong thing (the examples of Health Check, Canada's Food Guide, double-speaking corporate dietitians and deceptive Big Food marketing leap to mind), it just lights my fire.

I realize that at times I'm irreverent and my tone often strident, and perhaps you might occasionally think I'm being cruel, but sometimes I wonder if I really have much choice. What do I mean by that? Well I remember one email I received - it was from an upset dietitian who felt that my calling out one of her colleagues for some of the ridiculous stuff she said about her Big Food bosses' products somehow cast a bad light on her profession. I pointed out to her two things. Firstly that I call out a lot of professions (RDs, MDs, PhDs, advertisers, etc.) and certainly wasn't singling out hers and secondly that there didn't seem to be anyone else calling them like they are.

At the end off the day my blog's an open forum. Everyone has the right to post in the comments and if you sniff around there enough you'll find that I certainly don't delete ones that feel I'm out to lunch.

What am I getting at from this ramble?

It's a request.

Speak up. Whether it's on the blog in the comments, with your professional organizations, at your school board meetings or at your dinner table, because one thing's for sure - if no one ever says anything about stuff that's not right, nothing will ever change.

My promise to you?

I won't back down.

Thanks for reading,
Yoni

[Thanks to a very kind soul for Simpsonizing me. Don't know if he wants attention so can't thank him by name.]