Friday, June 1, 2007

"Healthy Choices"

I love irony. When I observe it, I enjoy sharing it with others.

The company I work for is doing a "Healthy Choices" campaign this year. Each month is a different focus - on diet, exercise, healthy habits (or avoiding unhealthy ones), etc.

This morning when I got to the office, the lobby was jumping with activity! Including a guy in a carrot suit. Awesome! (And attention-getting!)

They were / are promoting "Strive for Five" in June - eating 5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables.

Nothing wrong with that. Definitely a challenge.

I probably eat 5 on some days; on others maybe 3 or 4. I s'pose it depends on how loosely you define "fruits and vegetables." F'r instance... if your pizza has both onions and tomato paste, does that count as 2 vegetables? If you put ketchup on your burger, is that a vegetable or a fruit? (Hat-tip to Ronald Reagan... I love Ronnie!) And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't fondly recall (sensible) Lisa Simpson's visit to the nuclear plant. Her conversation with daddy Homer went like this, as Homer chomped into his beloved donut:
Homer: "Donut?"
Lisa: "No, thanks. Do you have any fruit?"
Homer [offers some of the donut he's eating]: "This has purple stuff inside. Purple is a fruit."

(Bicycle is the ultimate hybrid, huh? Mine runs on carrots, or apples, or purple-filled donut, or a burger, or oatmeal, or peanut butter and jelly... well, you get the idea.)

So... where's the irony?

The promoters of the veggies and fruit almost certainly arrived at the office in their single-occupant vehicles. And on a yellow (or maybe orange) alert air-quality day! Are they really serious about practicing a healthy lifestyle? Just the easy part? (Of course, sitting in that go-home traffic will give 'em a chance to munch on a delicious apple, I s'pose.)

No comments: