Today's rambling: Give me a break!
Written on Saturday, Jul. 19, 2003 at 3:39 a.m.
while feeling a bit

I heart John Stossel. His only job is to pick apart all the stupid things going on in the country, and he's not afraid to get in anyone's face. And best of all, I share all his opinions, so it's like someone speaking my mind, only more expressively. :P Every time I watch one of those "Give Me a Break!" shows, I want to sign online right afterward and throw praises at him. XD

So tonight he was talking about those silly lawsuits going against fast food companies. By big-shot lawyers who've already got more money than they'll ever need, thanks to the lawsuits they filed against the tobacco industry. Like any of these guys actually care about the supposed welfare of their clients. They just want to get as much money as is humanly possible and stuff their mattresses with all of it.

But let's not think about them for a minute. Let's just ridicule the idea that ANYONE could actually try saying they didn't know McDonald's food would make them fat. That the Whopper they had for lunch wouldn't add a few more dimples to their thighs. I mean, come on! You only need to look at one of those burgers, with grease glistening on the surface, and you know that all of it is going to end up as fat on your body. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure these things out.

And then people have the gall to say that it's the fast food companies' fault that they're fat! Yeah, like Ronald McDonald was out there on the street carrying a gun, snapping "Get the hell in that restaurant and eat! And SUPER-SIZE it!" to random passers-by. So far as I know, nobody's gone so far as to put subliminal messaging in their commercials...and if they have, the messages obviously aren't working on me 'cause the only thing I've been salivating over is the idea of trying one of those new chicken-topped salads. Not a craving do I have for Big Macs or Whoppers or any of those square-shaped burgers from Wendy's. And as for Taco Bell...augh, don't even make me think about them. It makes me ill (what the hell ARE 'crunchy red strips', anyway?).

The only fault that can really be pinned to these companies is that they exist. They've provided the temptation, but just because they exist doesn't mean they're forcing anybody to eat their food. Some people eat at a fast food restaurant every day, and I'll wager that many of those people are the ones filing the lawsuits. How stupid can you get?? "Your Honor, I didn't know that eating huge hamburgers and super-sized french fries every single day would make me fat! Or make me so unhealthy! Give me their money so I can buy more of their food later!"

I, at one time, was eating WAY more fast food than I should have. Too bad I didn't think of a frivolous lawsuit back then, because I could be rolling in cash right now! Instead, I think I'll go sue the ice cream manufacturers because I didn't know that all that thick, buttery cream would clog up my arteries. After that, I'll go after the potato chip makers (who would have ever thought that the grease that ends up on my fingers would ALSO end up as extra inches on my hips?). One by one, I'll go after every maker of junk food until they either run away in fear or charge the rest of the population way more than before, just to pay for the lawsuits.

Of course, I realize that these places ARE making serving sizes much bigger than before, and most Americans are taught to 'clean their plate', so they tend to eat those larger servings. But it's still not as though these people are being forced to eat all that food! There's such a thing as doing the portioning yourself. Just cut the burger in half and save the rest for later (which sounds kinda nasty, so why not just share the other half with someone else?)! Get the smallest size of french fries (or again, share the larger size with a friend or two). And for goodness's sake, DON'T SUPER-SIZE!

I wish we could pass a new law against frivolous lawsuits...though that could end up being a bad thing, since judges could probably start calling anything they didn't like 'frivolous'. But still, I'm tired of stupid people trying to blame everyone else for their own problems. You're fat? Stop eating all that greasy food! And exercise! Don't blame Wendy's for your problems, 'cause I don't think Dave Thomas ever sat in his room at night and thought, "I'm going to give the world HIGH CHOLESTEROL, and then they'll all get fat and die!" What good is it going to do (to anything besides lawyers' wallets) to sue, anyway? Yeah, it'll jack up the prices of fast food, but it's not like people will ever stop eating there. I'm willing to wager that even those pudgy folks who are filing this lawsuit will go back to their fast food the moment everything's over with. Urgh.

As John Stossel would say, "Give me a break!"