Google rejects job applicants because they're fat

Aha, but you probably LOOK young, right? I'm guessing that running keeps us looking youthful. I'm waiting for the days when I'm like 50 and still looking like I'm 20. Good (future) times.Another time a relative said to me, "You're lucky that you've developed good eating and exercise habits. When you're older its harder to keep up."What I wish I said, "Stop stuffing your pie hole with cakes and eat some fruits and veggies! Its a damn CHOICE!"

Groundskeeper Willie wrote:

[quote]chinocochino wrote:

I have a relative that always says, "You're so lucky, you're young and have a high metabolism, that's why you're thin." I respond, "No, its because I run 60+ miles per week and do cross training as well."

Very few people are willing to make the sacrifices (diet and exercise) to be in good shape.

[quote]bacon23 wrote:

People say stuff like this to me all the time, but I'm not that young anymore (38)

In their defense, healthy food is a little bit harder to come by when you're an adult and have lots of things to do throughout the day

Uh huh huh wrote:

In their defense, healthy food is a little bit harder to come by when you're an adult and have lots of things to do throughout the day

Apparently it's not a problem for Google employees. They must also have superior skills in the areas of time management and the culinary arts.

Healthy food is easy as hell to come by. Breakfast: grab some fruit and yoghurt or oatmeal if you have 10 minutes. Lunch: bring something in a ziploc from home. Make your lunches on Sunday. Dinner: cook a meal. Cooking dinner takes all of 20 minutes, which is about how long you'd have taken driving over to get takeout anyway.

I live by myself and sometimes only cook twice a week, just because a pound of rice and beans or lentils will last me all week.

Some people can't help being fat. I've been volunteering with 4th graders and it's sort of sad that you can tell certain kids will be overweight as adults. It's the genes that certain Americans have. Fat+fat breeds fat. You don't see so much of it in Europe.

doubter wrote:

I don't believe this. People I know who are obese tend to eat a lot and not be very physically active. Also, just because a person makes a show of being health conscious doesn't necessarily mean they don't regularly binge on unhealthy food.

yep...funny how all of the people who make a show out of eating healthy at work are the fattest ones around. they have their public diets and their private diets.

The math is simple, expend more calories than you take in. That canot fail to work. Sure, some of us have a higher metabolism than others but adjust your diet and excerise accordingly.

I believe being fat is just a bad habit.

watchband wrote:

yep...funny how all of the people who make a show out of eating healthy at work are the fattest ones around. they have their public diets and their private diets.

I worked at a diner near campus when I was an undergrad. We would always have chubsters come in with their friends and order "an egg white omelet, no cheese, please. No butter on the English muffin. And I'd like a cup of fruit instead of the home fries. Also, can you make sure that they use, like, as little oil as humanly possible when they cook the omelet. And could you bring some skim milk for the coffee? Sorry, I just can't stand cream." Meanwhile all their healthy looking friends are ordering normal food.

You know that this person either has a secrete stash of Cheetos in their dorm room or they're setting aside their health consciousness when the drinking starts and consuming a few thousand calories in liquid form on a regular basis.

bacon23 wrote:

But being thin or big-boned has no effect on whether someone is able to do their job competently. A company should not focus or care about what people do in their own time.

Well, those employees with weight issues are also going to be much more expensive to insure becasue they do have more health issues than non-heavy people. While their brains are not affected, and they might be very skilled, their health issues may cause them to miss more work and need more exceptions to deal with their health issues that are caused by being overweight.

What does it even mean to be "big-boned"? Having a large skeleton doesn't force you to be fat. Just turn on a basketball game and you'll see plenty of very fit people who are "big-boned."

You got rejected because you are not qualified. However, exercise does increase brain function, so your obesity might correlate to your inability to perform at the level required of Google applicants.

Get out of your chair and try working out.

Dwight Kashrut wrote:

Healthy food is easy as hell to come by. Breakfast: grab some fruit and yoghurt or oatmeal if you have 10 minutes. Lunch: bring something in a ziploc from home. Make your lunches on Sunday. Dinner: cook a meal. Cooking dinner takes all of 20 minutes, which is about how long you'd have taken driving over to get takeout anyway.

I live by myself and sometimes only cook twice a week, just because a pound of rice and beans or lentils will last me all week.

Still takes more effort sometimes even if it's not a lot more. Plus, having children to manage makes it a bit tougher too. Not making a full excuse, just saying that it's not always as easy as you seem to think. It's still for the most part easy enough though no matter most peoples' circumstances.

These people that have "excuses" for not exercising and not eating healthy do have kids, etc. However, when they were young, they usually STILL weren't eating healthy or exercising. The percentage of obese young people is very high, sadly.

Uh huh huh wrote:

Dwight Kashrut wrote:

Healthy food is easy as hell to come by. Breakfast: grab some fruit and yoghurt or oatmeal if you have 10 minutes. Lunch: bring something in a ziploc from home. Make your lunches on Sunday. Dinner: cook a meal. Cooking dinner takes all of 20 minutes, which is about how long you'd have taken driving over to get takeout anyway.

I live by myself and sometimes only cook twice a week, just because a pound of rice and beans or lentils will last me all week.

Still takes more effort sometimes even if it's not a lot more. Plus, having children to manage makes it a bit tougher too. Not making a full excuse, just saying that it's not always as easy as you seem to think. It's still for the most part easy enough though no matter most peoples' circumstances.

nope wrote:

coach d wrote:

Cancer appears to be roughly a 70% lifestyle disease

Stats please. My mom had cervical and ovarian cancer and never smoked, drank, or weighed more than 110 pounds.

Other than some smokers getting lung cancer, your number appears WAY off base.

Here's some numbers to back that up, a twin study from 2000.

To summarize: heritable factors accounted for ~28% of the risk of developing stomach cancer, 35% for colorectal, 36% for pancreatic, 26% of lung, 27% of breast cancer, 22% of ovarian, 42% of prostate, and 0% of uterine cancer. The rest of the risk is attributable to the environment.

So coach d was right on the money.

von Braun wrote:

Here's some numbers to back that up, a twin study from 2000.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200007133430201

To summarize: heritable factors accounted for ~28% of the risk of developing stomach cancer, 35% for colorectal, 36% for pancreatic, 26% of lung, 27% of breast cancer, 22% of ovarian, 42% of prostate, and 0% of uterine cancer. The rest of the risk is attributable to the environment.

Lifestyle != Environment

One implies that people who get cancer bring it on themselves. The other implies that people who get cancer got it from factors that were beyond their control.

Do you understand this concept? It's very important that you do. Because if you ever say what you did to a person with cancer, you may hurt their feelings even if it's unintentional.

Barnabus Reynolds wrote:

I can't believe the OP got this many responses on what I thought was an obvious troll thread.

8/10

Oh shut up.

nope wrote:

von Braun wrote:

Here's some numbers to back that up, a twin study from 2000.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200007133430201

To summarize: heritable factors accounted for ~28% of the risk of developing stomach cancer, 35% for colorectal, 36% for pancreatic, 26% of lung, 27% of breast cancer, 22% of ovarian, 42% of prostate, and 0% of uterine cancer. The rest of the risk is attributable to the environment.

Lifestyle != Environment

One implies that people who get cancer bring it on themselves. The other implies that people who get cancer got it from factors that were beyond their control.

Do you understand this concept? It's very important that you do. Because if you ever say what you did to a person with cancer, you may hurt their feelings even if it's unintentional.

I'll agree with your first statement to a point. "Environment" encompasses lifestyle as well as things like living next to a chemical factory or being exposed to high-dose radiation. That NEJM article also divides Environmental risk factors into "Shared" environmental factors and "Nonshared" environmental factors (which included differences in "lifestyle"). Shared environmental factors only accounts for ~10-15% of the risk for any of the cancers, Nonshared environmental factors account for ~60-80% of the risk. So, lifestyle definitely has an effect on you risk for developing certain cancers. Nulliparity (never having children) is a classic "lifestyle" risk factor for breast and gynecologic cancers.

I don't agree with your second statement. In my experience, patients want to know how to live a healthier lifestyle and how to reduce their risk for getting cancer, and if they get a cancer diagnosis they just want to know why it happened to them. This is not about assigning blame and it's not about making people feel bad, it's just about giving people the truth.

Good for Google. It's all about corporate culture. If Google supports a certain kind of corporate culture where employees have a lot in common, health, fitness, music whatever, then they have a right to hire people who fit their mould. After all they sign the paychecks, they make the rules.

Likewise at our insurance firm you better look the part or you won't get hired: suits, ties, shiny shoes and a good resume. And we anti-select people all the time for a variety of reasons even though some of them can do the job. We just don't want them around if they have a weird religion (no Bible thumpers), look a bit sloppy, smoke, don't speak English very well.

I'm not a kid. I'm 28.

There's a lot of jerks on here, and you're one of them. You know, I thought even jerks had boundaries, but then someone like you makes assumptions and accusations about a person who died from ovarian cancer that you don't even know. If I ever met you in real life, I would beat the sh!t out of you for what you said even if it meant I got hurt in the process. I really hate people like you.