Being obese is not wrong

News adapted from News.com.au , 24 August 2010.

A NAIL salon in Georgia has charged a woman having a manicure and pedicure an extra $5 because she was overweight and could damage their chairs.

Michelle Fonville, 40, of Lithonia, said she was at the Natural Nails salon getting a burnt orange color applied to her fingers and toes, along with an eyebrow wax, when she was presented with what seemed like an excessive bill.

“I said to the clerk I thought I had been accidentally overcharged, I honestly thought it was an error,” she told ABC News.

But then, Ms Fonville said, “when she came over and wrote out the prices she then said, 'I charged you five dollars more because you're overweight'."

Kim Tan, the salon manager, told ABC News' Atlanta affiliate WSB-TV that the chairs in her salon can only hold 200 pounds and cost $2500 to repair.

"Do you think that's fair when we take $24 dollars and we have to pay $2500 in repairs?" Ms Tan said.

"I said to her I'm sorry, but next time I cannot take you."

Ms Fonville said she plans to protest outside the salon later this week.

Ms Tan returned the extra $5, ABC reported.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I felt ridiculous and upset when reading this news. Obese is not wrong, I would say so. People who are obese are also ordinary people like us. Everyone of us deserves respect from the others. Respect needs to be earned. In the news above, Ms. Fonville did not actually damage the salon's chair, nor did she act in a rude way towards the salon workers. In the theory of success entrepreneurship, customers should be the main priority for every business. Saying you are charged an extra fee just because of your big and obese body size is definitely rude and insulting. Inevitably none of us wants to be humiliated in this way after consuming a service from a shop. We would certainly hope to be replied by a warm smile and be greeted politely, "Please come again next time". Hence, instead of charging extra on obese people, which is an immature act, the salon should order a bigger size of chair especially prepared for obese people. In this way, not only different body sizes of customers are treated equally important, the salon could eventually gain a good reputation among the customers.

Is "N-word" offensive?

News adapted from news.com.au , 10 August.

Denis Maurice Mulheron told a magistrate in defence of his slurs that "nigger" is everyday language. Picture: Jay Nel-mcintosh.

Have you even been called something racist? I bet all of us do not like to be called in a racist way. It will definitely harm the relationship among the races.

In Australia, a Queensland Judge has found the terms "nigger" and "sandnigger" are not offensive to a reasonable person. According to Urban Dictionary, the term "nigger" can be defined as the blacks or dark-skinned people. It is often used by the whites.

Besides, an Australian can be called as "Abo", a New Zealander as a "Kiwi" or an American as a "Yank". Supporters who accept the use of these terms argue that they are not enough to invoke criminal sanctions. Although the words used may be crude, unattractive and direct but they are not offensive to a reasonable person.

However, on the other hand, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the use of the term "nigger" is highly offensive and has no place in modern Australia.

Apart from that, there is another similar case occurred last Thursday that it was acceptable for people to tell police officers to "f*** off".

------------------------------------------------

Whether the calling of these racist terms are out of intention or not, we should always avoid using them in order to prevent any misunderstanding among races.

Stomped on an Infant?

News adapted from news.com.au , 6 August.

A 35 years old man had imposed more than 10 years of imprisonment for brutally killed his girlfriend's baby son. This man has once served around 9 years in prison for the shooting manslaughter of a man in 1996 before he committed this crime again.

On the 7 November 2007, the man came home from a drinking session at a Blacktown hotel in Sydney's west. The baby's mother described the man was drunk, angry and very aggressive. He lifted the child, holding him around the neck with both hands, and shook him violently while chocking him. The baby's whole body was shaking, making a gurgling noise and having difficulty to breath. The man then just threw the baby back onto the mattress and stomped on his chest. By the time paramedics arrived, the baby had already stopped breathing had had no pulse.

Although the couple tried to hide the sin at first, the baby's mother finally made admissions three months after the incident. The man was charged with brutal murder and his earliest date of release from prison is December 2018.


------------------------------


I believe that most of us, after reading this news would definitely feel dismay and sad over the incident. Life is brittle. An innocent life can be ended in just a single second. Treasure every moment you have with your love ones and respect others' lives at the same time. A peace and harmony world will only be achieved with respect, tolerance and endurance.