#175 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Thursday October 21)
Good morning,
AMERICAN EXCESS IN DINING
I was speaking with an Australian friend the other day about his adventure to The Cheesecake Factory. His description had me in tears of laughter.
The Cheesecake Factory is my definition of a gastronomic nightmare. Too many options, too many different types of cuisine, enormous portions, heavy sauce.
My friend described the Cheesecake menu as endless and emblematic of American excess. He also noted that one could order American, Italian, French, Chinese, Thai, Mexican…nearly everything. He correctly noted that with so many choices, none were terribly good. His decision was to go with the steak (Bill Sonnenberg would say that’s the safest bet when you can’t comment on a restaurant’s quality—what, after all, can someone do to mess up steak?).
My friend described the restaurant as brazen and brashly American in its aggressive statement of excess and size. I’m still laughing.
SIZE TRANSLATES TO SIZE
This story, hysterical as it is, reminds me that the excesses of the American food industry—without regard for caloric intake or healthiness of the ingredients, feeds the obesity that is afflicting our nation and burdening our healthcare system—cutting lives short and causing great pain. There are some people who view a meal at Cheesecake Factory as just another opportunity to “load up” on calories, fat and sugar, in proportions unintended for normal humans.
Something to think about:
Factory Nachos, 2,950 calories
Barbecue chicken salad, 2,020 calories
Oreo Dream Extreme Cheesecake, 1,620 calories
And I haven’t even looked up the saturated fat and sugar content.
42.4% of all Americans were reported obese in 2017-18. That is up considerably from 30.5% in 1999-2000. Severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%. It’s a big problem. Restaurants like Cheesecake Factory aren’t helping.
I recall being in Las Vegas with Brad when he noted, “Most of the people in this airport are fat. We are the smallest people here.”
MAYBE JUST LET TEACHERS TEACH
Amidst all the complaints about teaching, occasionally it’s important to stop and acknowledge the profound effect they have on our children—generally for the positive. We all begin parenthood as rank amateurs. Sure, we have the guidance of parents and other relatives who have live through it all and share their guidance. And sure there are a lot of books that we can use to help prepare us for the various stages of growing up. At the end of the day, it’s the teachers who bring with them knowledge, experience, and skills. Enough with the far right trying to deny access to great literature because of language, uncomfortable situations and “poisonous” views. Enough with the far left trying to turn schools into reeducation camps with a political agenda, rather than a political one.
From Mark DiMaria comes: “Whether we realized it or not, we all (and some more than others) relied upon our teachers to liberate us from the ignorance of our loving, protective parents. And as a society, we rely upon the very same thing to provide a well-informed citizenry, sufficiently equipped with knowledge and the ability to think rationally, to both carry out their civic responsibilities and enjoy personal success and fulfillment. The challenge is to ensure that our teaching corps truly is knowledgeable in the realms entrusted to them. I would never have wanted to leave the substance of my education to my well-educated, relatively progressive parents. Nor did I ever attempt to intrude upon such matters for the education of my own child. I necessarily entrusted that to those more expert than I.”Have a great day,
Glenn
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