I was going through some of my old blog posts today. For no particular reason, other than killing some time; though in truth I was looking for one post in particular. I finally happened upon the post that I was looking for; one that I wrote more than two years ago called Morbidly Obese.
I wrote that post because of two separate incidents where I watched two rather large women devour food in a couple of restaurants that I was eating in when they decided to eat like "a couple of hogs slopping at a trough" (in my best Alabama twang, of course).
I was thinking of that post because of something I witnessed this past weekend at a local Piggly Wiggly. If you're not familiar with Piggly Wiggly, it's a grocery store; and there are many of them here in South Carolina where I live.
Anyway, each Piggly Wiggly has a deli area where they serve hot food on a buffet. Where I wouldn't necessarily be tempted to eat off a buffet at most any grocery store (or buffet in general); I must say that the food sold off the buffet at my local Piggly Wiggly is excellent.
The fried chicken, fried fish, macaroni and cheese, green beans, candied yams, fried okra, peach cobbler, hot rolls and sweet iced tea could have easily come off my mother's table. The food is just that good. So good, in fact, that there is always an ample line waiting to be served.
Sunday I was in the grocery store picking up a few items. I wasn't there for the buffet; but trust me, there were plenty of people that were.
One particular customer stuck out in my mind, because she was very loud and very very big. Without a doubt, she stood out to me because of her size. While I was walking by and lusting after that delicious looking fried chicken, she was placing her order.
A few minutes later when I was checking out, she was in the line ahead of me; and she had opened up her box of food in the line and she was standing there eating a chicken leg.
While that chicken looked damned good....and it did. Nothing was so serious that she couldn't have waited until she got her big ass home to start eating that chicken........and licking her fingers, while waiting to check out.
While I will probably never see this woman again, I will certainly remember her as the big greedy woman who couldn't wait to get home to devour that yard bird she was chewing on in line.
I see a lot of overweight people, I know we all do. You might be overweight yourself. After all, one in three Americans is overweight. That's one hundred million big collard green eating people in this country. That's a lot of big people.
Why are there so many overweight people in this country?!?
It would be easy.....and foolish to say that they're all just greedy like the woman I observed going at that yard bird; and the other two women from the previous post.
I don't believe that greed is the answer across the board, though I do believe it's the answer in many cases.
You don't usually become morbidly obese by mistake. Usually there are a fork and knife involved and not a lot of exercise. Though there are times when health issues do contribute to this problem.
That said, this country seems to have a love affair with greed, both economically and psychologically; and I think that goes without saying.
In the last few years, a slew of "eating events" have cropped up around the country, dedicated to celebrating the man or woman that can eat the most hot dogs, pies, chicken wings, pizzas....what have you.
Is that a good thing?!? Is it pure entertainment or ultimately does that speak to the lower base desires of human nature?!? In a world where people are starving and still others struggle to afford healthier foods, should we be celebrating gluttony?!?
When people around the world look at us from the outside looking in, I can understand just why they hate us. We're our own worst enemy.
It seems to me that healthier foods tend to be more expensive than fattening foods. Fattening foods are usually inexpensive. I think that has something to do with much of what I see in my fellow Americans. Not to mention the fact that healthier foods are not quite as tasty.
One thing that happened as a result of that post I wrote back in January of 2011 was that one of my longtime blog mates took offense to the post. She expressed her dismay over the subject matter and how she felt it was mean spirited and never came back to my blog.
When I write these posts, I use a little humor to downplay the seriousness when speaking to each subject. Though I may be passionate about the topic, I'm not trying to be mean spirited and I don't ever intend on hurting anyone's feelings.
I absolutely love to eat.
I've got a weight problem, I can't wait to eat.
I don't have a problem making that statement because it's absolutely true. I make it a point to try and eat healthy foods for the most part and I exercise on a regular basis. If I didn't exercise and eat healthy at least most of the time, I'd be overweight as well.
