As most know, a good laugh is indeed good for the heart. I get this.
However, in the case of using a donut bacon cheeseburger as a vehicle for making fun of the abysmal nutrition of KY state fair goers, the blurry line separating funny from not funny is clear, at least for me.
What is responsible journalism?
I am no expert, but am fairly sure that this report in our hometown newspaper is not an example of such. Both the article and accompanying video make light of this nutritional cluster bomb. No mention in the article that this 1000 calorie disaster is a pictorial metaphor for our state’s obesity epidemic. No link to this Washington Post expose on obesity in Kentucky.
Here is an excerpt from this fine piece of journalism…
I finished without having a coronary or chest pains, but I did take two Tums tablets as a pre-emptive strike against acid reflux.
So two thumbs up from this cheeseburger guinea pig. Just think twice before a second and third after you get hooked — there’s a funnel cake stand nearby.
To one who witnesses the disasters of obesity nearly every day, making light of a donut cheeseburger seems akin to making fun of cancer or heart disease–which surely wouldn’t be tolerated.
Until the paradigm changes, a sea change in a nation’s view of obesity and sedentarism, there will be little movement in overcoming one of our country’s most pressing (and most expensive) diseases.
Some things used to be funny, but times change.
JMM
h/t: A very conscientious cardiac cath lab nurse, who would not touch a donut.
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