Thin Line Between Being Busybody, Acting Responsibly

Sun., May 4, 1997

By Rebecca Nappi rebeccan@spokesman.com (509) 459-5496

So here’s the dilemma: You’re working out in your favorite health club when you see her.

She’s so thin that a strong wind would snap her legs in two. She’s exercising with a passion and intensity (and longevity) that seems a bit much.

Is she anorexic? Most likely. So what to do. Mind your own business? Or do you confront her in a kind way? Do you ask the club manager to confront her? Watching her on the weights is like watching an alcoholic at a bar.

The eating disorder anorexia, as everyone knows by now, is an illness. It kills. Singer Karen Carpenter is but one example. And in every health club, it seems, there is the token anorexic. Sometimes, it’s a guy. We’ve always been disturbed by this and wondering if some sort of intervention is in order.

So we’d like to ask some questions of anyone recovering from an eating-disorder. Would it have helped in your denial stage if someone in your health club had asked about your thinness? Or if the manager had come right out and expressed concern about possible anorexia? Let us know.

Kudos: Christine Gregoire, Washington state attorney general, was recently honored by Gonzaga law school’s Women’s Law Caucus. Gregoire was presented the 1997 Myra Bradwell Award. The annual award is given to a law school alumna who has worked for women’s rights in the legal arena.

The award is named for Myra Bradwell, who passed the Illinois state bar exam in 1869 but was denied admission to the bar because of her gender. She edited a legal newspaper instead, wrote editorials about discriminatory laws, helped get those laws changed and was finally admitted to the bar in 1890.

Bye, Bye Betty: At Betty Hammond’s memorial service Tuesday, friends recounted her strengths. She and best bud Shirley Michaelsen pioneered women’s programs at the Institute for Extended Learning. These programs, such as Change Point and Project Self-Sufficiency, have helped thousands of women.

The secret of Betty’s (and Shirley’s) success? They found out what women really needed in education and then created programs to meet those needs, even though nothing resembling the education programs had ever existed before!

They talked up the programs in the most enthusiastic manner. They underplayed the difficulty of getting them off the ground and then showed how fun, and successful, the programs could be. It worked. May other women steal this success formula in their own workplaces. It would be the best tribute possible to Betty’s life and legacy.

Jamaican proverb: “When you see an old lady running, do not ask what is the matter. Run too.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo

MEMO: Common Ground is written on alternating weeks by Rebecca Nappi and Dan Webster. Write to them in care of The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615. Or fax, (509) 459-5098.

Common Ground is written on alternating weeks by Rebecca Nappi and Dan Webster. Write to them in care of The Spokesman-Review, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615. Or fax, (509) 459-5098.

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