Those using this app will be familiar with the new color coded alerts after each entry is logged: green for good job fat boy, yellow for sliding toward sloth phase, and red for "you're one Oreo away from extinction." I am hoping this will fill an emotional void hollowed out by years of rejection. Being a traveling salesman I spend all day getting the door slammed on me, which in turn frequently triggers a brief conversation with inanimate objects in my car to relieve the cold harsh realities of peddling product. The radio has to be getting sick of me yelling into the CD slot, "FIND. GARY. BUSEY!"
Now I can seek validation through my little pal in the MyFitnessPal app who rates me green for great job. There should be no questioning the correlation between green in the app and the green ribbon culture infecting modern middle class society... Equal opportunity went on a love bender with political correctness spawning a sadistic child named equal outcome. I will admit in the court of the blogosphere that I desire, and I also find great pleasure, receiving my green ranking after each food entry with equal parts shame when red appears. Encouragement from trainers and work out partners is wonderful, but relying on cold programs is anti-social and plays into every dystopian critique of society's trajectory since WWII. Those in our readership pool who came of age in the 1990's will remember the scene in Demolition Man when the emotional weak citizen turns to a sidewalk computer for emotional reinforcement and positive affirmations. I guess we'll be seeing in the near future an option at the ATM for $20 bills or a daily positive conversation with Max Headroom's therapeutic virtual cousin. "You are beautiful. You are amazing. You deserve to be great!"
There's really no analogy fitting an inanimate program praising or chastizing you based on ones and zeroes for your daily choices. Some computer nerd probably got a sizable bonus for this innovation. The Gary Busey bit is the gift that keeps on giving. That is one batshit crazy icon! Modern society has bred a narcissistic generation of selfie takers who need, badly, a small iota of validation from peer or app to make their sad existence mean something. I read recently that incessant selfie taking is now considered a psychological disorder, big surprise. Now we need our apps to approve of our decisions?! How, as a society, can we get back to the good ole days of self loathing and in turn self esteem? Failure breeds self reliance, perseverance, and ultimately self respect. Basically making one immune to the need for coddling and digital reassurance. Sadly, our youth is constantly told they are special, and even sadder, they believe it, having never done a damn thing to have earned it. But myfitnesspal echoes this unwarranted sentiment. I fear I may have steered this blog horribly off topic. Yet I feel no remorse. Maybe it's because I am special...my mommy told me so.
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