Today’s quotation comes from arguably our finest president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He offered this gem as a way to combat the Great Depression.
Now, I know we are not in the Great Depression, but we are in a period in our history where mental health issues are on the rise, especially among teenagers and young adults, and there is a prevalent sense of despair and disillusionment in the country. There are shortages of workers in essential jobs, and the price of everything seems to be rising faster than salary increases and cost of living allowances. With this in mind, I thought this quotation was fitting.
F.D.R. cut to the heart of what makes America great and successful and generated a sense of optimism in a most troubling time.
“I sometimes think that the saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelming majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities- a sense of humor and a sense of proportion.” (Goodreads)
Now, here’s the thing. I do not believe this is even remotely true anymore. A majority of Americans have completely lost one of these qualities and the other is on life support.
DISS PROPORTIONATE
We have a sense of proportion? No way.
According to ExperienceArlington. com, AT & T Stadium has a scoreboard with two screens that “each weigh 1.2 million pounds. The end zone displays are the equivalent size of 4, 920 52” flat screen televisions, and the cost alone for the scoreboard (40 Million) was more than it cost to build the original Texas Stadium”(Shorr-Parks NJ.Com).
I know they like things big in Texas, but does this not border on ludicrous. The scoreboard is so big that it often blocks punts. As someone who lived in Hartford when the weight of the scoreboard and the snow caused the Civic Center roof to collapse, I just think we are playing with fire.
The 2023 Cadillac Escalade is over 16 feet long. The biggest yacht built in the U.S. The Cakewalk, has six complete decks and carries 97,000 gallons of fuel (Megayacht News) I hope the owners have the Circle K discount card. I think they’re European. Doesn’t count, P.
Speaking of cake, one of the heaviest wedding cakes on record was made by 58 chefs at the Mohegan Sun Casino (another CT shoutout) in 2004, and it weighed close to 7 tons (guinnessworldrecords.com).
This confectionary behemoth leads to my second point about our current sense of proportion…food consumption.
FOOD FIGHTERS
We are overweight as a nation. Our portion size is out of control.
There used to be a website called This is why your fat.com that showed pictures of food that would outstrip your calorie allotment in a single sitting. According to Wikipedia, the website is now defunct. I guess we do not want to be reminded of our indulgences.
I do recall an item on the website called the Bacone. Wikipedia again says that this culinary calorie bomb was created by Christian Williams and Melissa Tillman and debuted at Bacon Camp in San Francisco in 2009. Did I just write Bacon Camp? Do I have to write anything more? I will. The Bacone is a bacon shaped cone filled with scrambled eggs, hash browns and cheese and then covered with a bisquit and sausage gravy.
Sounds a lot like Burger King’s EGGNormous Breakfast Burrito which clocks in at a whopping (pun intended) 910 Calories according to carbmanager.com. According to the U.S. Department of Health, the average adult male should be consuming between 2,000-3,000 calories and the average adult female between 1,600-2,400 to maintain weight. Yes, maintain, not lose weight.
By the way, my favorite sandwich for Burger King is the Big Bacon King, and according to its own website, it’s only 1,087 calories per serving. I know I have a problem, but so does a majority of America.
According to the CDC, approximately 70% of America is overweight or obese, and for the first time the adult obesity rate is over 40%, while child obesity is close to 20%(cdc.gov) My intent is not to be preachy. I weigh 235 pounds, and I walk almost every day. I am twenty pounds from my ideal weight, and supposedly close to 50 from what the metrics say. I am no longer a member of the “clean plate club,” but it would help if my plate wasn’t so heavy and full.
There is no chance in a world with the Bacone, I am getting down to 185. What I am saying is that bigger is not always better. I am trying to eat slower and stop when I am “feeling” full. Furthermore, If we spread joy as fast as we spread mayonnaise, and if we serve up buffets of kindness, maybe we would have the mindset to combat what ails us individually and as a country.
Next Thursday,
Part II – Sense of Humor
PREVIEW
Having a sense of humor does not mean you have to have impeccable comedic timing or tell the best jokes. Part of having a sense of humor is the ability to recognize when someone is joking and having a realistic tolerance for ribbing. I know our collective sense of humor is waning, but why?
I will be back tonight with my Food Focus Friday entry, and hopefully, I’ll be back on track by tomorrow night.
Love and Laughter (in big portions)
P.