I spent the weekend at a friend's camp/ranch in the Blue Mountains of Pennsylvania. We always go during Memorial Day weekend but made an extra trip to stain her deck.

As part of the tradition, we have dinner at a local restaurant called the Red Lion. They are known for their Broasted Chicken which is a brand-name for chicken that is awfully similar to KFC. For $8.95, you get two pieces of white-meat broasted chicken and three (extremely plentiful) sides. It is so much food that you have to take some of it home.

While dining there on Friday night, I noticed that I was the only non-Caucasian there besides my friend Janice who joined us for the weekend. I also noticed that Janice and I were probably the healthiest looking. Actually, our table was the healthiest looking. Let's just say, Atkins or South Beach has not taken over this area.

As many times as I have visited, I am not sure there is even any type of gym in the area. Certainly, most of the people at the Red Lion don't go to one. With all the information being sent out about obesity and the health issues related to it, a large part of this country still does not care. Watching people tear into steaks, broasted chicken, pizza, salads bathed in blue cheese, cheesesteaks, fried everything, and buttered bread, just proved to me that I live in a bubble.

Because I work in the health club industry, I am surrounded by people who watch what they eat, exercise, and have a general concern for their well-being. I was aghast at the amount of food people ate. The table next to us had about three pitchers of beer for the 4 people plus each had a large entree and dessert. My stomach hurts just thinking about the amount of food. None of them took anything home because there was nothing to take home. And none of them seemed apologetic for it.

I am not sure how to feel about it all. On one hand, I applaud them for eating and not having any hang-ups about the fact they do. They just happen to eat this way. But, I cannot believe that being more-than mildly overweight is at all comfortable, no matter who you are. Which fills me with anger that they are not doing anything to change their current health status.

As much as I am part of that culture when I am there - digging into my deluxe pizza with ham and pepperoni, I understand that I only do this once in a Blue Mountain moon. I guess I need to understand that my hang-ups are not theirs. But when my taxes are being used to care for these overweight indivuals (as is being proposed in government), I think I do have the right to be concerned. Later.  ¶ 9:52 AM