Thursday, October 06, 2005

Matts tales from the wild west....(not cornwall !)

Well hello and its nice to be back from the Wild West. Well Wild West coast of America anyway. And as promised I have many observations stories and general chat to pad out the next few weeks at the very least. So what to talk about first, ah yes the mad Brits and there obsession for walking. Hot news from the world of dubya Bush, the Americans are going to get fit. Its official it must be I heard it on “Regis and Kelly” the original Des and Mel only at breakfast.

The Surgeon general and his team have decided to get America moving, to lose weight and to improve heart function. Now we in blighty know all about this. Back at the beginning of the year there was a big campaign to get all us fat unhealthy types to walk 10000 steps per day. Now I am lucky my job sees me on my feet and moving all day, and I can get to 10000 with only a little effort. But I can understand that for some it’s much more of a challenge. Enter the American solution 2000 steps per day. 2000 that’s tiny, that’s so bad that I can do 2000 just pottering around at home before and after work. Think about it though if 2000 steps is an improvement on what has gone on before then God help them. Not so much a Super Power as a Super Sized power. Regis the anchor man on the breakfast show I was talking about is proudly going to lead a march in central park to get people to do an extra 500 steps. That’s like pottering around the house in your PJ’s before getting dressed.

Actually I think I might be being unfair. To read this you would think that America is full of overweight lethargic people stuffing burgers and coke (full fat) in there mouths. Its not, it has its fair share of lard arses (excuse me ?) but as a race they are all tall and this can give the impression of weight. There tall as a result of years of good nutrition. This means that I love it over there lots of tall people means as standard, cars have ample head and leg room. Beds are the right length (for me) etc etc. In fact at 6’3’’ tall I am at the lower end of the tall spectrum. 34’’leg length is the norm bliss. I think that at this point I should mention that there also lots of people who are very thin and have an unhealthy obsession with there body image. Lets face it Hollywood is where the face lift was invented and where looks count for all. Just try Venice or muscle beech in LA to see what I mean.

On a slightly different note but tied in I have to talk about “the pavements sorry” sidewalks in American towns. One particular incident springs to mind which will illustrate my point perfectly. We arrived in a smallish town called St George in Utah. I say smallish it was represented on the map by a small dot. And as we were driving towards it through hundreds of miles of desert we were wondering if it was just going to be a tent in the middle of an Indian reservation. As it turned out St George was nice and our overnight stop had all we needed. Pool, Air con, large bed etc. There was also just across the road an out of town shopping centre (the hotel was on the edge of the interstate). There was also some restaurants and bars in fact all the traveller needed to replenish the batteries.

So we thought quick walk across the road shop for stuff after all cloths are cheap and then on to eat and drink walk back and to bed. For the whole time we were walking up and down between shops not another person was on the side walk. During our 15 minute trot up the road I became aware that cars were slowing and people were looking at us in a strange way. The zip on my trousers was done up both the wife’s boobs were hidden so what could it be(they can stop traffic). Then it dawned as I said earlier we were the only people on the sidewalk not just then but ever. None of the people ever walked up the road to get a paper or down to the shops or just go for a walk. But the shops were full and nearly all open until late into the evening. Full of people spending there hard earned. Most would arrive at one end of the car park park up, shop then get back in the car and drive half way down, get out shop get back in and repeat the whole process. Now I walked from one end of the shops to the other in about 10 mins. Not that hard and on the flat. No wonder they can only manage 2000 steps a day. Next week the joy of flying in jog pants.
Matt

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Great blog Matt, but really hard to believe people can be so lazy. Sad fact is, I think we are heading in the same direction. Remind me again, how many miles did you clock up whilst you were over there? Loved your pics on flickr, more soon I hope. Good to have you back and glad you were not too busy to write your blog! Gx