Junk Food or Junkies?

As you may or may not know, VH1 has a tendency to run its programming over and over again. Right now, they’re constantly running and rerunning their reality shows such as Kept, the Surreal Life, Celebrity Fit Club, and so on. Prior to that, it was the “I Love the (fill in the blank with a decade)” series. Several years ago, however, it was “Behind the Music”; an hour long show about the rise and fall of bands both important and flash in the pan. It really was a great series. One of the shows featured the ridiculous, big hair, glam-band Poison. A sizeable portion of the feature focused on the antics of cartoonish guitarist, C.C. Deville. C.C. battled drug addictions while living in a fairly sad existence. He overcame the drug problem, but in the process gained weight. He talked about the discrimination he felt while being overweight. In one of the interviews on the rockumentary, C.C. made a profound statement. He said something to the effect of, “It was more acceptable to be a junkie, than overweight.” Wow! Although a rock and roll clown said this, I don’t think a truer statement could have been made.

Think about this for a second. “It is more acceptable to be a junkie, than overweight.” Both in movies and in real life, junkies are seen as tragic heroes while the overweight are lampooned as buffoons. Junkies are seen as victims while the overweight have “done it to themselves.” Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, and Cobain were just victims of their stardom. Their early exits just enhance their legacies. Mama & Papas songbird, Mama Cass Elliot, dies of a heart attack in London, and rumors float around about her choking on a sandwich. What’s worse is that the rumors are widely believed to be true. Do you see the double-standard?

In movies, television, cartoons, commercials, and sometimes even literature, the overweight are depicted as slow both in physical aspects and often in wit. Unless you’re wearing a red suit with a big white bushy beard giving toys out to kids all over the world, you must be clownish or dumb. Look at the movie “Stand by Me” which is based on Stephen King’s novella, “The Body”. While I’m fond of the movie, and even more so, the written version, Vern, the character who is made fun of throughout both vehicles for being fat, is not very bright. This is not an isolated case. You see it throughout these forms of entertainment.

Now let’s take a look at the fashion industry. It is next to impossible to find fashionable clothes for larger males. Oh, there are Big & Tall stores. Have you ever been to one? Atrocious clothes including golf shirts with elastic bands at the bottom hang from the racks screaming out, “Wear me and you’ll look like you belong in a retirement home!” The prices are insane! For those amounts, I should be wearing Diesel or DKNY. But No! It’s John Daly’s Husky wear! Have you ever looked at a catalog or advertisement for a big and tall store? The models are never big, just tall. Polo, along with any other Ralph Lauren line for that matter, I’ll probably always be partial to. It’s one of the few fashionable lines that cater to the robust gentleman. Go to some of the more fashionable stores, though. Check out Abercrombie & Fitch or DKNY along with countless others. I challenge you to find a pair of pants that go above a 36 or 38. Here’s the message I’m hearing loud and clear. “We don’t want your fat body to be seen in our clothes, destroying our image.” I love clothes. I especially love fashionable clothes. But most of the fashionable clothes are designed for people who appear to be junkies. I swear you have to be on heroin or crack to fit into them. You have to be able to fit your butt in a coach seat on an airplane to be able to look good. Although I d not choose to sport the style, I have to admire the hip-hop clothing designers. In just about every line, larger gentlemen can find clothes to fit them.

My last target of complaint is the medical insurance industry. These companies embody the statement that it is more acceptable to be a junkie than overweight. If you are requesting to be placed into rehab to get off drugs or alcohol, you are 100% covered. Often, you don’t even have to pay a co-pay. You’re admitting that you have a problem, and that is heroic. We are proud of you and want to help you in any way. Please don’t get me wrong. Going through these steps is very admirable and you should be applauded. If you’re overweight, however, more often than not you are not covered. You did it to yourself. Get yourself out of it. The insurance companies would rather you get diabetes or heart disease and treat you for that, than help you shed the pounds for a healthier lifestyle. They would rather you have a heart attack or stroke. They would rather you die. No surgeries, no medication, no subsidizing of any sort. Food is not an addiction; at least according to the insuring world. Deal with it. In light of these facts, here is what I propose. Are you overweight? Here’s what you do. Become addicted to a drug such as crack or heroin that is known for reducing the weight of its addicts. Lose the weight because of your addiction. Then, put yourself into rehab. You’re a hero!

Please don’t get me wrong. Again, I admire drug and alcohol addicts who admit they have a problem and better yet, overcome it. Also, I don’t blame anyone but me for my weight problem. However, if you’re going to applaud the one group for indulgence and addiction, why not the other? If you’re going to help out the one group to overcome their problem, then why not help the other? If you’re going to cover the cost to treat the one group, why not cover the cost for the other? It is a double-standard, and frankly I’m sick of it. I would never condone the idea of becoming addicted to drugs to lose weight, but do you see how ridiculous this is?
This is where I will end my whining. I would like to, however, explain the basis for my diatribe. If you’re reading this blog, there is a 99.9% that you know me. And, you know that weight is an issue I’ve struggled with my entire life. You also probably know that I have fought it before and have done well. However, those demons always come back to me. I’ve decided to do something about it. I am going to work on losing the weight and lowering my cholesterol as it is sky high. In reviewing my insurance plan document, I’ve also looked at what my possible options could be. There aren’t any outside of taking care of it myself, and it has gotten under my skin. My insurance company would rather worse things happen to me medically. So, I ask you all to pray that I find the willpower to battle my weight problem and cholesterol problem. I am looking to change insurance companies next year, and ask that you pray that the company I go with be more sympathetic to my situation than my current one. I hope this blog finds everyone happy and in good health. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going.


I Corinthians 9:24 – 27 (NIV)

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.