I’ll admit it. I judge people by what they put into their shopping cart at the grocery store. In line to pay, I glance back and wonder why you’d buy the white wonder bread that is stocked right next to something a teeny bit more wholesome. Pushing my cart past the produce, I wonder why someone buys 6 frozen pizzas but not a single fruit or vegetable. It’s none of my business, but I can’t help question it.
I avoid going to our local grocery store here at lunch time for the simple reason that it both depresses and enrages me.
Why?
Because that’s where the high school kids go to buy “lunch”. I stand back (or, let’s face, get bowled over half the time) and watch these kids, many of whom are overweight or clearly headed in that direction make their purchases. Chocolate doughnut and giant can for Rockstar? Check. Family-size bag of doritos and a 2L bottle of Coke? Yum. Can of Monster AND a can of Coke? Bring it on!
I can’t help but feel sorry for the teachers who get to witness the sugar crash/food coma that must follow this intake of junk. I want to take these kids and shake them! I wonder if they know better and are simply making the choice to ignore what they know. Or worse (is it?) are they legitimately ignorant of the basics of normal nutrition?
I’m by NO means a saint when it comes to what I eat. I have a sweet tooth that is rivaled only by my salt tooth. In fact, last night I dumped out all the leftover Halloween candy, ate what I wanted and dumped the rest in the trash. But that only happens once in a blue moon and I understand that moderation is a good thing. Plus, I know how to work it off.
How do we convey this moderation to our kids? I’m proud that my kids request salad for dinner and think fruit salad is “fun”. Do they love candy, chips and treats? Absolutely. Do I hope that someone regulates the intake of energy drinks in kids soon? You bet I do. In fact, take that crap off the market or sell it in a liquor store. There is nothing you can argue that will convince me that kids need that kind of stuff, much less in the middle of a school day.
–end rant–
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