I don’t even know what I am supposed to think of this. I know what I DO think. Should I share? My vote is yes. You can read along if you want to.
Is this what we have devolved to as a culture? We are finally going to celebrate being fat? No, correct that. We actually already do celebrate BEING fat. Just look around, we are swimming in it. I went to a concert at a Casino a couple weeks ago. The ‘70% of us are overweight’ statistic may actually be too low! But, are we finally going to start setting the goal as ‘getting fat?’ This is an accomplishment right? I always thought that we should be striving to do the extraordinary, the difficult or the challenging. This is like setting the high jump pole at 6 inches and hopping back and forth in the hope that someone will hang a gold medal on you.
Is there anyone who has to put effort into getting fat in the U.S. of A.? Is it really that hard? Not when I look around me every day. This ‘sport’ doesn’t need any more participants, casual or professional. It is replacing baseball as our national pastime. Food, food, and more food. All food, all the time. Can’t have one stinking event without food or snacks. Isn’t trying to be the best at getting fat, at this point, just redundant?
So what is the gist of this article that has me disturbed?
In New Jersey, Donna Simpson, 42 year old mother of two children aged 3 and 14, is trying to increase her body weight from 600 to over 1000 lbs. Breaking down the 1000 lbs, she literally is trying to weigh as much as one mother and about twelve 70 lb kids. At what point does our government, the one that thinks it should have a hand in everything, step in to do something?
First, this woman is psychologically unstable. How do I know this? Because she is knowingly doing something detrimental to herself and to those around her. She is also trying to rationalize doing it. That is a pretty good definition for the condition. She says she is doing this for a book deal and a reality show. Apparently, someone somewhere is willing to put this on TV. What is next? Televising creative suicides? How about Pay-Per-View for criminal executions? We could pay off all the expenses of Obama’s ‘stimulus’ packages.
Second, she is endangering her children. She won’t be able to properly care for them. They will actually be taking care of her when she can’t get out of bed. Also, she is setting a terrible example of health for them. She is going to expose them to ridicule from their friends and anyone else that has eyes. Lastly, if no one has mentioned this, she could accidentally eat them.
Lastly, she is doing something for which we, through our group medical insurance coverage plans, will ultimately become financially obligated to take care of. Smokers bother me for the same reason, but I will save that for another day. We will all ultimately pay the tab for her morbid obesity. Also, God forbid, when this celebrated ‘competition’ draws other fans and participants, we will have to pay for them too.
Why isn’t my government protecting me from these people?
I don’t want to impinge on anyone’s personal freedoms. But when their choices impinge on MY personal freedoms and my wallet, I wave the checkered flag. You are done. Or I am done. Or both. We are way overdue for some kind of health insurance guideline that has these kinds of people paying their freight (a word which is actually a combination of two words, freaking and weight). If they are going to be this obese, super obese and morbidly obese, they should pay extra for their health insurance so we who are not grand can pay less. I have worked really hard to get myself into a physical condition that will make me happy and improve the quality of my life. I will not pay additionally for those whose goal it is to do exactly the opposite.
If they do not HAVE health insurance, we should apply a fat tax. They would have to get on a scale at the grocery store, or fast food stores, and based on their BMI (body mass index) be taxed extra. The woman in this article would only be able to buy about 10 grapes…at about $25 each. They should also have to pay for two seats on an airplane and at baseball stadiums if they need two seats. You are responsible for your own big ass.
No coddling. No enabling. If they want to live this way…they have to make sure the rest of us don’t have to pay for their lunacy and suicidal tendencies.
So why am I so mad? Here is why. It is simple math. If 70% plus of our country is overweight and expanding (both individually and statistically), then my opinion is a part of the minority. If any of you know anything about politics, that means that we health conscious folks will be at the mercy of the large. We have as much a shot at getting equity in this situation as an oily seagull in Louisiana does of finding a clean ocean.
My goal is to get up every day. To breathe. To smile. To work. To take care of my kids. And to do it without relying on the rest of you to make it happen.
Her goal is to be so fat that she is useless to society. Swell. Let’s celebrate that.
Next: Young again!
