Perhaps “need” is slightly exaggerated here, because I’ve survived without one so far. But it would be really helpful and convenient to have one right now. I recently got quite a bit of snow and sleet that accumulated, and I don’t have a snow shovel. I have a regular shovel, but that’s slow and tiring for snow removal. Plus once the snow mixture started to thaw and then refroze, it became ice that made my driveway treacherous to traverse, and a shovel just didn’t cut it. Obviously the best way to melt snow and ice off my driveway would be with a flamethrower. Plus it would be fun! So it’s a win-win!
People in the South don’t get snow very often, so it’s a big deal. Schools and businesses may preemptively close if there’s a forecast of even an inch of snow on the ground. This isn’t panic — we simply don’t have the infrastructure for it. Why would the cities invest in many snow plows when they’d get used only once every few years?
Many of us enjoy the snow, because it is such a rare occurrence. I live in the South, and we recently got several inches (of a snow and sleet mixture), and the schools were closed for a week. We got to do sledding, throwing snowballs, making snow ice cream (if you don’t know, try it, seriously), building snowmen (or trying to, depending on the texture), and just enjoying how it looks different.
But there is something we do wrong, and we know it. We panic buy. This funny parody song (below) highlights that. Once snow is in the forecast, people buy all the milk and bread. Even though we may be snowed in for just a couple of days (because it’ll be 50 degrees before you know it), that doesn’t matter. We must have enough milk and bread to last weeks, even if we’ve never been snowed in that long. And even though it would make more sense to stock up on non-perishable foods, that doesn’t matter. It’s just part of the experience. People joke about it, but then they do it anyway. Friends shared pictures of the grocery stores, and the whole bread aisle would be empty. People even bought up the yucky expensive bread that’s topped with sticks and rocks.
I recently had a birthday, and some friends were suggesting I am getting old. That’s simply not true. Now, the calendar might suggest I’m getting older, and I am indeed older than I was, but I’m not old. I don’t feel as old as the calendar says. So it’s mind over math. 🙂
Besides, old age is at least 10 years older than I am. It’s a moving target. 🙂
But whatever on the number of my actual age. I like to remind people that studies show that people who have the most birthdays tend to live the longest.
Obesity in America is a big problem, which needs a solution. Actually, we know the solution. Despite all the diet fads and bringing back the presidential fitness test and time-change chicanery, we know what the best answer is: eating less and exercising more. It’s that simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple.
So what’s the problem with our solution here? We need people to know about this and then to do it. So if the government is serious about making a difference, here’s some ideas. (I’m not suggesting it’s the government’s business, but since they try to do something about it, it might as well be more effective. Well, we do need the FDA to protect us from harmful additives, but they shouldn’t legislate our health and fitness. But I digress…) Here’s the idea:
1) To bring awareness to the issue, create a national holiday (or even multiple days, like in the spring and fall). People can have a paid day off work IF they commit to getting physical exercise. There could be events setup to encourage people to do this together, like a 1-mile walk (but make it fun, perhaps without donuts for this one). This would help people get exercise, and hopefully they would realize it can be fun and help them feel better, so perhaps they will continue getting more exercise in the future. Various groups could schedule events on this day, like a free 10-minute introduction to pickleball or tennis or some other sport.
2) Provide a benefit for participating. Just getting a paid day off work is a huge benefit already, so there’s that. Perhaps some fitness-focused groups might want to setup some promotional benefits for people who participate in various exercise events. Maybe there could be a rebate from your health insurance for participating. (Some already do this for things like having a gym membership and going to the doctor for an annual physical checkup, so check your plan — they require you to fill out forms to get the rebate, but some do offer it.) The government could offer corporations a tax break for the day to encourage them to participate.
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