"It appears my hypocrisy knows no bounds". - Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday in Tombstone
Michelle Obama chose nutrition and physical fitness for children as her First Lady pet project. A safe and noble choice. I personally remember when there was just one "fat" kid in class that got picked on and now at least a third or more would fit that description, and unfortunately these weight problems are becoming more evident at a younger and younger age. It breaks my heart to see rolls of fat on a 5 year old. Of course the reasons for this are obvious. In the last few decades our food has become more processed, parents both have to work, leaving kids alone after school to eat cake instead of carrots, even schools serve fries, chocolate milk, donuts and some even have, can you imagine, COKE machines!
But the worst offender seems to be technology. Before Apple was a company and when Pong was just a dream, kids could stay inside and do homework and listen to the adults talk (ew) or watch some crap on the 3 stations of TV you got. Outside seemed the best choice. I can easily think of a dozen games I played either by myself or with friends that kept me active and burning calories. Even just climbing trees or picking my way through the creek probably kept my muscles toned and my weight down. Back then McDonald's was a monthly treat if we had been good, not a food group in and of itself.
So having our first lady raising awareness and showing us ways (even writing a book) on how to have better nutrition and physical exercise in our lives is a worthy cause that most people will embrace. Unfortunately, some a little more zealously than others.
Recently Mayor Bloomberg of New York has proposed to ban the sale of soft drinks more than 16 ounces in size. Apparently the good Mayor feels it is his business what I pour down my gullet. Now anyone who knows me would probably have expected a blog on this, being more of a libertarian that a Democrat (hear that Daddy?). This serious irks me, so let me ask Mayor B a few questions.
Dear Mayor Bloomberg, what prevents me from buying six 10 ounces sodas and drinking all of them? What if I am drinking unsweetened tea, are you going to deprive me of the cancer fighting properties of tea by limiting my intake? How many sundaes, apple pies, or cinnamon buns can I have with my 16 ounce drink? Are you going to tell me how many packets of sugar I can put in my coffee at Hardee's? Of course these are assinine questions because this is an assinine proposal. So lets get serious for a moment, lets ask some real questions here.
Dear Mayor Bloomberg, who the hell are you to tell me how much soda I can drink? Who the hell are you to tell McDonald's how much soda they can sell me in one serving? Why do you care so much about what I drink, yet are not working day and night to make cigarettes or alcohol illegal? Yes, I am addressing THAT elephant in the room. How far are you going to take this nutrition bandwagon? Will Sugar be limited in gracery stores? Will you put a city "sin"tax on it?
On a brighter note, I am heartened to see the media ( Fox ass-kissers aside) being just as outraged as I am. Post 911 has made us a bunch of pansies, allowing the government to delve deeper and deeper into our private lives by pushing our fear buttons, so it is nice to see some pushback, even if its just a little.
So basically Mayor Bloomberg, sit down and shut up and focus a little harder on improving the food your government schools are serving our kids, their physical education classes that are a joke, and helping the masses of under povertly level children who suffer in your fair city.
Oh and by the way, I dare you to actually measure out how much of that over 16 ounce cup is soda. My guess is, once all the ice they put in is taken out, you are lucky if you get a third of the volume of the cup in actual liquid.
