Some observations from a reluctant traveler

[Kassaundra]

My Gma never had a weight problem, as a young woman she actually had to drink several milkshakes a day just to maintain near 100 lbs weight. Well when she got alzhiemers she was very vocal, very brutal about her opinions of overweight, directly person to person, even if she knew them well or were strangers. On particularly horrible day, the last day we took her out to eat in a restaurant, there was an over weight lady wearing a Tshirt advertising a local "whole hog day festival" you can imagine where that went! It was horrifying to us and unpleasant for that poor woman. We profusely apologized to the woman and explained the situation w/ the alzhiemers, she was gracious about it, to this day years later I cringe for that woman.

My Gpa (married to the Gma above) was always obese, his entire adult life, came from a long line of obese family. As a teen / young adult, I was an average weight, but carry all my weight around my waist (thick waisted) (When I married I weight 110 lbs but had a 28 inch waist) Anyway I do not remember any day going by when he did not sing the "Too Fat Polka" to me.

 

[NwMtGardener]

It is a complex issue for our society. Its particularly challenging in my line of work, imagine trying to figure out where someone's pelvis or hips are when they're morbidly obese. Montana has a low obesity rate, so when i travel its always a shock. Do you think it has something to do with how available crappy food is? Its everywhere. 24 hours a day. So many people are in such a hurry, so they think that's all they have time for. Tough choices.

 

[so lucky]

And all our modern "time saving" conveniences are adding to the problem. Remote controls----who has the time or energy to get up out of the recliner and change the channel at the TV? Riding lawn mowers with beer holders, escalators and elevators, cars, drive through fast food joints, banks and car washes......
I am as guilty as anyone else. I have noticed that a person can go through a day without having to interact with other humans. You can fill up the gas tank, buy groceries using the automated check out, go to the ATM, pay bills on line, order stuff on line, etc. Lots of people earn their wages sitting at home in front of the computer. On TV right now, the announcer is discussing "telemedicine." Will we humans evolve to the point that we don't have legs and voices? How will we chase after our kids, yelling their full name at them when we're mad at them??

 

[Ridgerunner]

In the year 2525, if man is still alive
If woman can survive, they may find

In the year 3535
Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie
Everything you think, do and say
Is in the pill you took today

In the year 4545
You ain't gonna need your teeth, won't need your eyes
You won't find a thing to chew
Nobody's gonna look at you

In the year 5555
Your arms hangin' limp at your sides
Your legs got nothin' to do
Some machine's doin' that for you

In the year 6565
Ain't gonna need no husband, won't need no wife
You'll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long glass tube

In the year 7510
If God's a-coming, He oughta make it by then
Maybe He'll look around Himself and say
"Guess it's time for the Judgement Day"

In the year 8510
God is gonna shake His mighty head
He'll either say, "I'm pleased where man has been"
Or tear it down, and start again

In the year 9595
I'm kinda wonderin' if man is gonna be alive
He's taken everything this old earth can give
And he ain't put back nothing

Now it's been ten thousand years, man has cried a billion tears
For what, he never knew, now man's reign is through
But through eternal night, the twinkling of starlight
So very far away, maybe it's only yesterday

 

[thistlebloom]

Okay this is going way off topic, but So Luckys comment on remote controls sparked this thought.

Last January my sister, her husband and I made the sad trip down to my parents home, to clean it out and ready it for sale.
We had a very limited amount of time to accomplish the job, so instead of having a garage sale as a lot of friends had suggested, we put large items out at the curb with a free sign. This was all good stuff, no junk, and it brought all the neighbors out of their Lazyboys to swoop in and grab whatever they could.

(You may pick up that I've never been impressed with this neighborhood, or town, my parents chose to build in. But I won't elaborate.)

One of the items was a clean, working, pedestal fan that got snatched up. The next day as we were loading up to come home, the guy who took the fan walked up and asked if we had the remote to it. Keep in mind that this is a guy who looks able bodied enough to do something for work, I mean he picked up the fan and walked a block away with it, yet he doesn't work. He gets "disability".... anyway, I was dumbfounded. Who needs a remote for a fan? And not even a "thanks, that was really nice of you folks to offer all of that nice stuff for free..." Nope, nada, zip, in the gratitude department. He shuffled off when we told him, no, we hadn't seen a remote.

In fact, none of the people who benefited from our house clearing expressed any gratitude whatsoever. Even while they were picking over the furniture and we were bringing more things out, they couldn't even be bothered to say hello.
One woman asked me if we would be bringing out a kitchen table and chairs.

It was demoralizing and depressing to think my parents had lived in this neighborhood for 22 years and none of these...people...
asked about them.

 

[so lucky]

That is really sad, Thistle. We had just about the exact opposite response when we broke up my parents' household. People were buying little knick-knacks "just to remember them by."
I hope your parents had some friends in that town, if not in the neighborhood.

 

[thistlebloom]

Fortunately they did have friends 'Lucky. There is a wonderful couple across the road who were very good to them. They are hard working clean people, and that's what they had in common with my folks. Which is also what makes them stand out so much from the majority of others that live there. I'm not exaggerating about that either.

I'm sure it wasn't always like that or my parents wouldn't have been attracted to the area. But 10 or so years ago a maximum security prison was built in the area, and so the friends and families of the inmates incarcerated there moved in.

Like attracts like.

 

[ninnymary]

It is so hard to believe that people can be so heartless. Just broke my heart reading this and knowing what you went through Thistle. Fortunately, I think there are more good people than bad.

Mary

 

[seedcorn]

Most of us are over weight by medical standards. Have some family that were obese-dead now. Many reasons for it-in their case-medical that the drugs had side affects worse than problem.

That being said, people, skinny, average or heavy, have some questionable wardrobe decisions. As my wife says, some people would go naked if you let them. Jared could probably attest to this but most people have the same body parts, it's just some seem bent on showing them to world.