Friday, June 25, 2010

Let's talk about America, shall we?

I have been waiting for years for a Harry Potter theme park. I am a nerd for this type of thing and I enjoy it particularly.

I'm a little disappointed that I might not be (in my current state, at least) allowed on one of the rides "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey."

But that's me. I am a little bit overweight. I am 6' even and 260...so I'm not a particularly svelte individual...although I don't think I could ever be one, even if I had no fat on me at all. I'm sort of built like a linebacker. (Is that really a bad thing, though?)

But here's the thing: America is becoming overweight. The average height of men in this country is approximately 5'9" while the average weight is approximately 200 pounds.

BMI (Body Mass Index) is approximately 3 units above normal on average, as well. (25 is considered healthy.)

This is a bad sign, I think.

Listen, I'm not saying that we should begin this nationwide campaign to run the Boston Marathon for next week, but come on now. If you are going to complain about not being able to fit on a ride, please do it after taking a good hard look at this guy.

If you aren't willing to keep yourself in shape, or attempt to make your way there, you don't deserve to complain when you can't be accommodated.

It's embarrassing. Absolutely! ...and, if we learned anything from Kevin Smith and his debacle with Southwest Airlines, we know that sometimes, people are douche bags about it. You should be treated with respect regardless of who you are and what shape you are in (or what shape you are and who you're in...but I digress), but if you are overweight and potentially unhealthy, you aren't entitled to RAISE A STINK if you cannot be accommodated for safety reasons.

And as for comparing Jeff Guillaume and Dwight Howard...well, they both might weigh 265, but consider the height difference, shall we?

If Dwight Howard can't fit on a ride, it's probably because he'd get his head cut off.

1 comment:

  1. I am puzzled by your statement "If you aren't willing to keep yourself in shape, or attempt to make your way there, you don't deserve to complain when you can't be accommodated."

    What do you think "in shape" means? How much of an "attempt" is necessary in order to be allowed to complain? As someone who is fat due to anti-depressant medication side effects, I have to consume somewhere in the neighborhood of no more than 1000 cal/day to achieve any significant weight loss; is this a reasonable expectation of anyone? And does the fact that I'm healthy - bloodwork, BP, mobility - at all undermine the assumption that BMI is any sort of predictor of health?

    Here are some links regarding BMI, weight, health, and the "obesity epidemic", if you're interested. They're also good sites to just poke around on and read some differing perspectives.

    http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2006/11/introduction-and-why-i-created-this.html

    http://kateharding.net/faq/
    http://kateharding.net/faq/but-dont-you-realize-fat-is-unhealthy/

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