Don't tell cabbies you're a nutritionist!

I have learned very quickly that it is not a good idea to tell the cab driver that I'm a nutritionist. Think about it, they have you stuck in a closed space with them for a good few minutes. It's the perfect opportunity for them to tell mooch you for all you're worth.

So, one day last week, I guess I was bored, because when my cab driver asked me what I do, I told him! So he wanted me to tell him how he could lose weight. I asked him, jokingly, if we were going to barter - my advice in exchange for the cab ride. Of course not, he said!

He started pouring his heart out to me. He told me that it was impossible to diet in his job. And then he told me his biggest sin: He couldn't stay away from bread.

Innocently, I asked him, "What is wrong with bread?"

"Ze Mashmin!" He answered. It is fattening?

"There is no such thing as a fattening food. It just depends how much of it you eat," I said. "Why don't you eat whole wheat bread?"

"What is the difference between white and whole wheat?"

"Whole wheat has a whole bunch of very important things like vitamins, minerals and fiber which are taken out when they make the whole wheat into white."

Talk about society offering us a lousy nutrition education. He "knows" bread is bad but he doesn't know the difference between white and whole wheat bread.

I also told him he should make sandwiches at home instead of having to buy things while out.

At the end, the bill came out to 20.50NIS. He said, "For you, 20NIS!" "My profession is only worth half a shekel?!" I asked, as if in shock. So he said that the next time I got a ride with him, if my advice had "worked" then he would give me three free cab rides.

Yes, next time I must remember not to tell my cab driver what I do for a living!