The Fair · 2 September 2012
Day 6: September 1, 2012
We went to the fair last weekend and I could not help but marvel at the people. I marveled at the way they ate and the way they walked.
It would have been easy to join in with them as they ate all the meat and potatoes and sweets. But I am committed to my health and did not participate in the eating orgy.
Part of the reason that I did not eat more than a few handfuls of greasy fries and less than a quarter of a huge (half pound) hamburger is because of the people around me. As I sat and watched people, I was amazed at what and how much they were eating. I wanted to go up to people and ask if what and how much they ate at the fair was indicative of what and how much they ate at home. Could they really pig out like that all the time?
I saw huge turkey legs and huge bricks of French fries and huge hamburgers getting scarfed up by huge folks. I could not help but think that they were just setting themselves up for getting huger, but that was not the reason I kept from joining the feeding frenzy. I ate just a little of the food because I was not hungry.
The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi reminded me that I have usually had good self control at the fair when it comes to eating. It is usually not because I do not want to eat, but because I do not want to spend money. I know, the fair is an experience to be relished (no pun intended). We already spent the money for admission, so we ought to enjoy not just the displays and animals, but the eating and the rides too.
While it is true that I can be somewhat of a tightwad, when it comes to the fair, I only really need to see the lumberjack show and walk around the place holding hands with my lovely bride. The eating and buying is optional for me. However, my wife wants the full meal deal. She wants to eat and buy stuff.
While The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi would probably call me a liar for saying that being cheap was not the reason I ate little this year, it really was not. This year, the sights and smells of the food were not enticing. Those foods that used to make my mouth water were not so enticing. Part of that was my decision to be healthier. But I must admit that part of it was because I could practically see all that meat going straight to the bellies and arteries of the people around me. I did not want any part of that. Still, I did eat a little of what my wife put before me. And I was actually satisfied with so much less that I used to be.
I wanted to ask people another question as I watched them walk by. I wanted to know whether their feet hurt. There were plenty of people in sandals and flip flops and I figured that their feet felt fine. But all the feet of all the people in their soft running and walking shoes seemed to be screaming to be let out. My wife would say that my reading is getting the best of me. That it is making me want to fix all of humanity by convincing people to walk around barefoot and to eat fruit and vegetables. If I was trying to do so, I would certainly throw a little God in there too. (Actually probably a lot.) But I am not really trying to change the world. I am just trying to change me. I am just trying to get in shape and as a result stay around The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi for a long time. (Which means that I might be trying to change her too. But I am allowed to do that.)
The more I watch people eating and walking (like I did at the fair), the more I hear in my head, “Eat meat to get fat,” and “Wear shoes to get sore feet.” This is no indictment against society or the fair. It is not even a case of reading too much or the wrong thing as some might suggest. I just know that since I have cut down on my meat intake and started wearing shoes which are closer to being barefoot, I wonder why I did not always live this way. And I marvel that we all do not.
© 2012 Michael T. Miyoshi
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Very valid, pithy, scucinct, and on point. WD.
— Sartika · Sep 16, 08:45 AM ·