Thursday, March 01, 2012

We're number one!

West Virginia is number 1!

The number one state for obesity, and the number one state for high blood pressure and other health problems, according to the Gallup people.

And I don't doubt this, because every day when I'm out and about, all I'm seeing is fat people. For a state with so much scenic outdoor public space to enjoy, it's ridiculous to see so many people working so hard to keep from getting any exercise.
And all you need to do to see this proven is go to Harpers Ferry or the local Appalachian Trail parking areas and look at the cars; it's mostly people from other states who are there to hike around and get fit while enjoying nature. These West Virginians around me seem to prefer just sitting in their houses watching TV and raising up litters of fat kids who can be seen standing at the school bus stops every day as their parents drop them off or pick them up--in cars, lest the little darlings have to walk half a mile or so to and from that bus. And today's fat kids are tomorrow's fat adults and chronic health problems, many of whom you and I and other taxpayers will get to support through Obamacare unless we can elect someone with the stones to repeal it.

Even right where I live, I never see kids playing out in the woods or on the street. There is one exception, and that is a family down the street that has five kids. Those kids always play outside and ride bikes up and down the street. And surprisingly, those kids are all normal-sized. The rest of the neighborhood kids can often be seen riding around (illegally) on ATVs on the street, and they're little porkers who scream obscenities at the adults who try to tell them to keep their ATVs off the street. Care to lay odds as to which ones are going to be successful in life later and which ones are going to star in future episodes of "Creatures of WalMart" or "Cops"?

When I was a kid, we were forced to play outside and in fact were rarely let in until supper was ready, at which point our mother would step out onto the porch and yell our names out as loudly as she could, at which point, we had to answer and run home from where ever in the neighborhood we were. This was how all of the families summoned their kids home for dinner or at dusk, and you could practically set your watch by the punctuality of certain mothers calling certain kids at the same times every night. But you don't hear such things these days, because most kids around here are already in the house, watching TV or playing video games, and even those who are outside can just be called on phones that little kids really don't even need but all seem to have. In my day, if I wanted to talk to my friends after school, I had to go to their houses and knock on their doors. And I had to walk or ride my bike. Kids today though...many of them just sit around getting fat, and the ones that don't are going to be stuck paying for many of the ones that do courtesy of Obamacare and the ever-expanding welfare system.

I weep for my country.

And in that vein, I often note the lack of today's youth at the shooting ranges. If we don't get today's kids active in the shooting sports to replace the old-timers who currently make up a large percentage of the hunters and shooters that I encounter at the ranges, what's going to become of our Second Amendment rights and traditions down the road?


  1. Think it is the parents. My kids want to play outside, run around, get dirty, etc. It is the parents who encourage them to be blobs. Easier to keep track of them that way. Why? Fear, apathy, laziness? Take your pick. Beats good parenting.

  2. I see an awful lot of young folks at the ranges here. I believe that speaks well for Alaska's future.

  3. I wish I could show you the picture my daughters gave me for Christmas - it would give you some hope! It was one of those where they took several pictures and put them in the matting. One was of my oldest shooting her AR offhand, the other was my youngest with her 10/22 shooting prone, and then one each of them proudly displaying their rifles for the camera.

    Made me proud!

  4. I've always been amazed that so few people walk in our community - beats paying for a gym any day.

  5. Yep, it's endemic and of those who go in the military 61% in boot camp are either over weight, get stress fractures in simple exercise, or fail for lack of 'ability' to cope...

  6. Exactly! We live in neighborhood where our kids are often the only ones outside....ever.

    My oldest son is kind of a big boy, but ironically he didn't gain wait until he joined the fire department as a volunteer. They do not do much here in VA except eat.

  7. Lived that "run with your friends till you drop" life in the '50s. Parents act like big buddies instead of examples of grownups. Media blows up the 0.007% that children will be kidnapped by a stranger. Government will feed, clothe, house and give you money for "recreation". What sort of parent can be effective with the nanny state as pervasive as it is becoming?
    Simply, a lazy one. An Obama voter or yuppie.
    No backbone, no pride. No pride, no earned self-esteem. No earned self-esteem, no enjoyment of life. No enjoyment of life - then why should anyone else enjoy THEIR life? If their life is hard, the government should fix it, at no cost to them.

    Glad I'm old....

  8. Should have said my grand kids. My kids were always playing outside. There were limits. Check in times during the day. Home When the street lights came on. Area restrictions, etc.

  9. There seems to be a higher number of young people shooting from their cars on city streets....does that count?

  10. To West Virginia from Louisiana: Thanks for knocking us off as Number 1!!

    It is a sad thing to contemplate.