They cut drunks off when they've had too much!

On the radio this morning the dj's were discussing a proposed law in Louisiana or Mississippi (they couldn't seem to decide) where restaurants would not be allowed to serve obese people. The restaurants would be held liable for serving obese customers, even if they order a salad and a fresca. I'm sure it'll work great because fat people don't know they're fat unless you shame them in a public place and you can't get food anywhere but at a restaurant. There are so many things wrong with this I hardly know where to begin.

The title is from the first caller, a dainty wee thing, who doesn't want her kids to have to watch fat people eat. Sex, drugs, violence on tv all the time but it's food that you're worried about lady? You must have a really great life if your biggest complaint is being able to eat out with your kids and having to watch a chubby eat a cheeseburger. It must be so awful for you, living in a world with people in it and all.

It was a pretty crazy show but the craziest part was that the dj's were the only ones to voice a sense of reason. All of the callers gave the "I think it's wrong to be fat" preamble even if they followed it up with reason. Most people think the government doesn't have a right to tell us what to eat and most of them wondered if there wasn't anything more important to be worrying about and all of them think it's morally reprehensible to have an obese BMI. Once again the dj's were the only ones to point out that you don't have to eat at restaurants to be fat. Is the next law to ban grocery purchases until you look like Kate Moss?

What I wonder is how McDonalds and company deal with laws like these. They can't exactly buy ad time to say "our customers are obese and they have a right to eat!" but they're not going to put a patrol car in the drive-thru either. If it's true that most americans are fat, particularly in the south, it's also true that most of the customers at restaurants are going to be fat too. What restaurant is going to support the shaming and banning of their customer base so Mrs. Dainty and her children can enjoy their twice yearly hamburger in peace?

It makes me crazy that this law was proposed and it makes me crazy that it could be passed but it makes me even more crazy that I heard about it on the radio. A law this preposterous gets national coverage but I never heard a word about the state of South Carolina making cock fighting a felony the same day they refused to make domestic abuse a felony. I have so much to learn from american media. Fat people shouldn't be seen in public, restaurants are the only place to get food, and chickens are worth more than women. Fucking great.