The City by the Bay—also known as San Francisco—is once again on the cutting edge of reality. Always being first to do things–such as having ¾ of their city destroyed in an earthquake/fire in 1906, using their famous streetcars to advertise Rice a Roni as a treat, opening Alcatraz to house the cream of society, naming their football team with a number instead of an animal, and of course being the hometown of a coven of witches on the hit show, Charmed–San Francisco is now snatching joy from children.
Regardless of their famous bridge being called, “The Golden Gate,” the powers that be have now banned “happiness.” Tiny tots and obese tots alike, passing through the golden arches of McDonalds, will no longer find that coveted plastic toy in their boxed lunch. I’m not sure if McDonalds will have to change the name of their meal to something like, Sad & Empty Meal, or Don’t Eat Me Meal, before they satisfy the naysayers of fast food, but it’s probably on the agenda for a later date.
The man who sponsored the measure to kill happiness said, “Our children are sick. Rates of obesity in San Francisco are disturbingly high…”
So, I assume from this statement that the children of San Francisco no longer eat Rice a Roni, but rely heavily on McDonalds for their every meal. A city by a bay must have fresh seafood available at the grocery store to go along with the San Francisco treat. Maybe instead of banning toys from Happy Meals, they could just require parents to serve seafood at least three times a week to their chubby children.
Personally, I don’t see how banning toys will change where the parents take the children for lunch. If mom wants a mushroom swiss burger with a side of fries, nobody is going to deter her. Besides, what kid goes to McDonalds to eat? They go to climb through the tube slides in the indoor playground and jump in the bouncy balls. I had to force my kids to sit at the table and take a few bites of their hamburger before getting lost in the maze of plastic. The toy was something they opened, looked at for a second, and lost under the seat of the car before we managed to get home.
This country does have a problem with obesity, but government restrictions on advertising toys for children is not the answer. Where does it stop? Banning rabbits from cereal boxes, elves from cookie packages, or arms and legs from little M&M characters? Stop the insanity! Red and Green have feelings too.
If the banning of toys and cartoons doesn’t work, what will be next? Take those kids into government custody and put them on a vegetable and fruit only diet? It’s the only guarantee for true “change.” Perhaps they could slip that somewhere into the health care bill. No one knows for sure what’s in it anyway.
I’m still scratching my head over how San Francisco’s children became so obese. You would think if those kids just walked a couple blocks to school every day, they would work off a happy meal. With streets as steep as a Harry Potter cliffhanger, their little legs should be thin and muscular.
I’m surprised by San Francisco’s response to obesity though. After all, they are the city known for expressing personal freedoms. The “summer of love,” same-sex marriage, gay rights activists, and “don’t ask, don’t tell” sanctuary for illegal aliens, are just a few of the causes they have fought hard for. Why then are they so prejudice against chubby children? Can’t we all just get along?
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The twin cities can’t be far behind. Whatever happens in LA/SanFran ends up here the following week. Be forewarned and be prepared. I will fight for my happy meal rights!
I’m with you Barb! People are looking for ways to control “others”. I don’t think this is the answer at all. The last thing we need is more government control in our lives…and banning toys is utterly ridiculous.
Adding my two cents!
this is worse than when they stopped putting toys in cereal boxes.
I’m not sure if/how this exactly relates but I saw a bumper recently (this is true, I am not making this up) that said,
“Guns kill people like a spoon made Rosie O’Donnell fat.”
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
this guy ate only junk food for 10 weeks and lost weight. His good cholesterol also went up while his bad cholesterol went down. what you eat has nothing to do with how overweight you are. It has to do with how MUCH you eat.