There are only a handful of restaurants and fast food chains in this town of less than 4,000 people. There is no McDonald’s; however, and no Walmart. The Burger King went out of business when COVID hit. All that remains is an Arby’s, a Subway and 3 or 4 local diners.Many of the people who live here are obese. As if that was not a health risk by itself, most of them smoke and drink as well. I am guessing that nearly all are on at least one pharmaceutical drug.
I was having a conversation with a coworker – one of very few who does not smoke. She said that she had worked for years at fast food restaurants and saw the same customers day after day. She told me that some of them eat 3 meals a day at these places. This reminded me of the film, Super Size Me. The Arby’s sits only 20 yards or so away from the entrance to the motel where I work. There is a constant stream of people going and coming from there. It is the first food establishment off the exit from the highway.
I have not eaten at an Arby’s since I was in my early 20’s. Whenever I would eat fast food, my hands and feet would swell and I would have an unquenchable thirst. I presumed it was from the high levels of salt that is used, but I was later informed that it was the preservatives that brought on my thirst and swelling. I have not eaten fast food in years. I do not drink sodas. After so many years of eating healthy food, I would rather go hungry than eat the lifeless foods offered in fast food chains. I am grateful that I enjoy cooking and making and eating salads, which I have most every day.
I see so many women with their bellies protruding and cigarettes extended like flagpoles from their mouths, while they text on their cell phones and while they drive. They are caught up in their personal dramas and life stories. Men, too, chain smoke with their friends and coworkers. They throw the butts all over the parking lots. I cannot help wondering if these people also had pacifiers stuck in their mouths as babies and toddlers, and they have never been able to grow out of their infantile insecurities. Their hunger for connection is never satisfied. They do not realize that the food and cigarettes that they are constantly putting in their mouths, will never satisfy them. Their health will continue to decline, but they will refuse to take responsibility for their self destructive habits. They have become the victims of the agricultural giants and the pharmaceutical propaganda. They have not as yet awakened to their disconnection from Nature and to their ability to choose differently. Until they do, their appetites will remain insatiable.
