DumbSwede's Journal: Super Hypocri-Size Me

While strolling through some blogs the other day I came across an entry about the documentary "Super Size Me". This was a bit of a coincidence as I had the very same movie on TV at the time, so I mentioned it to them in their comment section. Well that person wrote back asking me what I thought of the movie. So here is my response to them which I will share with you.

Honestly the movie didn't do all that much for me. I eat at McDonalds once or twice a week on lunch break and am no less inclined to do so. McDonalds has done away with Super-Size meals in the face of criticism on this issue. I had known McDonalds was going to do away with Super-Sizing some months ago. I wasn't aware they actually had until today when I tried to order Super-Size and had to settle for Large.

When I went to put the lid on my cup at the condiment counter I was a bit amused that the lid was too large. When I looked at the bin more closely I saw that it was still marked Super-Size. Apparently these lids will sit there until the store is torn down in some distant future. In actuality they will probably dribble down as people like myself grab the wrong lids. Now that I think about it, this process should already have emptied the bin, so I'm guessing someone is still dutifully refilling this bin from some huge box of lids in the back storeroom. It would be amusing to know if they reorder this size lid when the box empties.

As I looked at my Large Fry I realized it is MUCH smaller than the old Super-Size. A size I rarely got, but now miss. If you get a McRib, this isn't a very large sandwich, that and a Large Fry may not slate your apatite, though admittedly Super-Size Fries would more than fill you. These fries also reheat well in the microwave so you could exercise proper restraint and take the remainder home for a later meal. But now our new nutrition overloads have denied us this option, and the cost savings as well.

This works to McDonalds advantage however as they seen catering to pressure to "do the right thing" and save us from ourselves and charge more for larger numbers of smaller orders. Morgan Spurlock clearly compares them to drug pushers. Ironically I'm for decriminalization of drugs as well. What people do with/to their own bodies is their business, no one elses.

I do a lot of running to keep my pounds off. I find I can put on 5 or 10 pounds practically overnight if I stop, and I suspect Mr. Spulock's weight gain came largely from the enforced inactivity. Not that he hid this fact in the movie. I also drink only Diet pop. I suspect Mr. Spulock's weight gain again would not have been so impressive, nor his exaggerated health problems so severe if he had chosen Diet soda instead.

The Film is presented in a rational fashion, it has a small point, but not one worthy of a whole movie. Mr. Spulock has succeeding in giving me fewer options in life (or least made them more expeisive).

My gripe with McDonalds in the past wasn't the ability to Super-Size, but the lack of ability to Under-Size. In the past I have asked for a small fry or drink, only to be informed they had only medium, large, and super-size. If you would then say "give me your smallest," you could just about see the counter person's eyes glaze over trying to figure out what to do. What does medium mean when it is the smallest in a scale??? Some times I want to do something unpleasant to people in marketing departments (noticed how I avoided using the un-PC term kill).

It is also ironic in that recent research is showing contents of our diets are not as big a determining factor in our heath as they had become to be believed through the '80s and '90s. Meat eaters are not much more likely to get cancer than vegetarians, though strict vegetarians are more likely to suffer vitamin deficiencies. Bad genes and lack of exercise probably has more to do with heart disease than our average American diet. If you want heart disease, don't exercise, smoke, and drink alcohol to excess often. Of course people with this life style would rather blame McDonalds.

Americans are not fat because of McDonalds but because of laziness pure and simple. Granted it is easier to be lazy today what with how our jobs have become less physical and having modern appliances to do our chores, but you still have control over the choices in your life. At least for now...

Sometimes

[Stargoat]

Sometimes I wonder about that. I spent about 3 hours in my car a day. I spend 9 at work. I spent 1 hour reading e-mail, checking news, and showering in the morning, getting ready for work. That leaves me 3 hours for spending time with my wife, exercising, entertainment, paying bills, taking care of family business, and all that other stuff associated with being an adult.

I'm not complaining, but I wonder sometimes if the trade-offs are worth it. I think they are.