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There are things readily available that could be used to help these folks if the effort were made. Hoists for auto engines and tarps sewn for slings. You could place a chain fall in one of the hospital rooms for about $1,000. The problem is hospitals think they have to go to hospital supply houses for their needs, and say medical and the price goes up. Everything medicval has to be chromed or stainless steel, when a painted lift from the garage will do the same job.How much can it cost to build a wooden bench strong enough to hold the fattest person in the world? Hey it may not be a lounge chair but its better then standing.

Your ingenuity will make you a lot of money, unlike the other rude disgusting comments on this board which, I might add, only make the case for those whining on the other side who say they are mistreated and reviled. If the other quotes on this thread are any indication, it is no wonder some of these fat folks feel mistreated.

Here is a clue for some of you. People who are 400+ pounds, and no I am not one of them, are like someone who is elderly. Many, if not most, are beyond doing anything signifigant to help themselves and they need special care when doing even basic things. It's one thing to say to someone to lose weight, but we aren't talking about the 10, 20, or even 80 lbs some here have lost. We are talking about people who can't even take a walk across the street without running out of breath and being in pain and even risking their lives further. You are talking about people who have the same complicated issues with food that an anorexic does, yet I bet you don't see some here showing their disgust for the 60lb anorexic being plastered on the tube lately. No, that kind of lack of discipline gets you pity, the demise of self-control in a fat person gets you disgust and stupid, high school comments about how you should stop stuffing your face you fat pig. Real helpful to someone who already thinks so little of themselves don't you think?

I'm sorry to rant, but I can understand things like the complaints of the nurses. They shouldn't be expected to lift one obese person themselves. That is ridiculous. However, those not in this profession are exactly what those 400lb people called them--bigots of the worst order and I don't throw that term around lightly either.

I think my experiment with Freerepublic is over. Liberals, I believe, make the mistake of having too much compassion where not warranted and I'm beginning to think though they are right that conservatives don't show enough when warranted and don't have a lot of understand for the COMPLICATED human condition. People don't get to 500 lbs, become drug addicts, or anorexics because they want to.
There are some complicated self-esteem and self-destructive behaviors at work. The better way to address the obesity issue is to ask what really is at it's core? Personally, I don't think getting that obese has anything to do with just being plain lazy. You gain 20, 30, 50, and even 100lbs this way, but you don't get to the point where you can't even move because you just don't want to do anything. I call it eating yourself into oblivion. Even people here who talk about food talk about using it to sooth themselves before they gained control over their eating habits, don't any of those same folks think there are extreme cases of that behavior? People who don't stop while they can still do something about it?