Dear Society,
I
honestly want to lay all the blame on you for the battle I must face each
day. I want someone to blame… anyone to
blame but the one who is truly responsible for this.
You did exactly as I
asked. I wanted food, but not just any
food. I wanted something easy, something
quick and something reasonable. You
granted me microwave meals, an array of fast-food restaurants, convenience store
munchies, five-minute side dishes, mouth-watering desserts and a grand
selection of carbonated beverages. You
gave my milk flavors, offered me sweet cream for my coffee, provided energy in
a handy chocolate bar and took the pulp out of my orange juice. It wasn’t enough, I wanted more. I wanted comfort food as well. You offered me fat and juicy cheeseburgers
with crunchy bacon, crisp, salted French fries, and ice cream with a variety of
yummy toppings.
However, Society, in granting my requests, you were
terribly quiet in your warnings. You did tell me, however, you didn’t shout it out
like you did when you were informing me about all these things. You didn’t post pretty pictures or hit me
with subliminal messages in your advertising about the dangers I was facing by indulging
in all these tasty foods. So I didn’t
pay attention. I didn’t worry about the
high calories, I blatantly ignored the sodium content and the fat and gave in
to the addiction to these processed treats.
You weren’t very loud about telling me I wasn’t getting my daily
recommended nutritional value in all the food groups, or that continually
indulging would wreak havoc on my body. In all fairness, though, when I did hear
you, I ignored it. After all, everyone
had cheeseburgers, pizza, sodas and other wonderful fried food goodness all the
time. I was going to buy it anyway
because it was cheap and it curbed the hunger for the time.
Yes, I could blame you, Society. That would be the easiest way to cope. Blame you and demand the government step in
and start doing something to change your ways, to stop you from giving me
exactly what I demanded of you. Or I
could simply accept that I am responsible for myself. You did not force me fill my cart with
pre-processed goodies, chips and simple meals. You did not take me into the
kitchen every time I was sad, lonely, or bored. No… that was me making that
decision all along.
See, I like food.
It’s always been my comfort, and my downfall. Thankfully, Society, you
know about people like me and you spin it both ways. You cater to what I demand, even though it’s
not good for me, and you offer me a way out, that’s harder and not near as comforting
as a good piece of cheesecake drizzled with cherry sauce. You now offer countless online sites to guide
me in a quest to be healthier, to eat like I should be eating. You
label nutritional values ( and let’s face it, you always did ) and you are now
making it easier to see those same values when I do go into a fast-food
place. Support groups are now plentiful
and let’s be honest, those healthy foods may seem expensive, but they really
aren’t when you realize you don’t eat near as much of them. You are doing much better at educating me and
leading me in the direction I need to follow.
It is a hard road to travel, after living on the fast and easy for so long,
and I admittedly stumble quite often.
This road is not lonely though, more and more are merging in and that
makes it even better.
Society, I still blame you a little, but ultimately,
I know this is up to me.
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