Sorry, you’re too fat to eat here Miss. bill would ban restaurants from serving obese customers
JACKSON, Miss. - A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don’t be offended.
He says he never even expected his plan to become law.
“I was trying to shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi,” said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he’d probably have a tough time under his own bill.
More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi are considered it obese, according to a 2007 study by the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.
The state House Public Health Committee chairman, Democrat Steve Holland of Plantersville, said he is going to “shred” the bill.
“It is too oppressive for government to require a restaurant owner to police another human being from their own indiscretions,” Holland said Monday.
The bill had no specifics about how obesity would be defined, or how restaurants were supposed to determine if a customer was obese.
Al Stamps, who owns a restaurant in Jackson, said it is “absurd” for the state to consider telling him which customers he can’t serve. He and his wife, Kim, do a bustling lunch business at Cool Al’s, which serves big burgers — beef or veggie — and specialty foods like “Sassy Momma Sweet Potato Fries.”
“There is a better way to deal with health issues than to impose those kind of regulations,” Al Stamps said. “I’m sorry — you can’t do it by treating adults like children and telling them what they can and cannot eat.”
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
I think the point of that law is to try and prevent the drinker from being dangerous to himself as well as others. Driving isn't the only way that could happen.
p.s. Otis isn't about to admit he's going to drive. In that state of mind, he probably can't even remember if he owns a car or not!
But isn't public drunkenness (sp??) actually against the law here (and other places)? So, bartenders and establishments are actual complicit in the crime. Public fattyness isn't against the law. Anywhere. Yet.
Plus, public fattyness isn't a danger to one's self AND OTHERS. Public drunkenness is.
"I'm so looking forward to a time when all the Reagan Democrats are dead."
As long as we're pointing out the inconsistencies with the comparison, someone who is drunk doesn't need another drink. Even if someone is obese, he or she still needs food.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Must be a lot of obese people here on BWW. I see nothing wrong with it. In fact, I'd go a step further and arrest obese people, for even attempting to eat in a public place. Why should non-obese people be subjected to the sight of obese people eating?
We should be demanding that the food industry operate at the highest levels of standards--making nutritional information available. Making fat and sugar contents known (my friend was irate when he discovered that even when he ordered his McDonald's coffee with skim and Splenda, they still put in their corn syrup).
Plus, there are many people who are not fat because of diet and execise issues. They are heavy because of health issues not caused by being obese to begin with.
You really think that jerby? None of the obese people I know have health issues that prevent them from achieving a healthy weight.
And wow, even when i say I know it's ridiculous, people just skim RIGHT over it! It's a SIMILAR law, predicated on the bartender's PERCEPTION of drunkeness--jesus!
And yes, madbrian, the obese still needs the food in order to survive, probably not whatever they've BEEN eating....
I think jerby has a good idea with putting fat and calorie counts on everything--but people are going to eat what they want, smoke and sniff what they want regardless of laws, me included!
"And wow, even when i say I know it's ridiculous, people just skim RIGHT over it! It's a SIMILAR law, predicated on the bartender's PERCEPTION of drunkeness--jesus!"
I think I'd rather the bartender err on the side of safety. You're skimming over the point that a drunk could be dangerous to you and I, as well as themself. If the supposed drunk person is so visibly inebriated, then my hat's off to the bartender who refuses to serve him/her.
Jerby, where are you getting your information about McDonalds coffee? I have googled and can't find it.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
"Carson has combined his passion for helping children with his love for one of Cincinnati's favorite past times - cornhole - to create a unique and exciting event perfect for a corporate outing, entertaining clients or family fun."
The point was that both the proposed law and the drinking law are judged by a subjective observer. The visibly intoxicated to one bartender may be the jovial patron to another--THAT'S MY POINT.
The real reason bars cut people off is fear of legal responsibility. They may SAY it's for the public safety, but if they were truly concerned about the public safety, they wouldn't be in the alcohol business.