All I want is a little Summer Love, is that too much to ask for?
Apparently so.
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It started with chairs, actually it started with tickets. Well, really, it started with the idea that we could have an evening alone. We bought tickets for the Britt Festival. The spouse and I were going to have an evening away, just the two of us.
Just the two of us
We can make it if we try
Just the two of us, just the two of us
Just the two of us
Building castles in the sky
Just the two of us, you and I
I could hear the music, I could feel the mood.
We decided on Garrison Keillor. We called for tickets for The Summer Love Tour. We are making arrangements to have someone stay with our 19 year old, who has down syndrome. We are getting ready to have an evening of "Summer Love". Reserved seating was sold out so we got tickets on the lawn. A few days ago the tickets arrived.
But the lawn has rules:
LAWN CHAIRS:
Lawn chairs are not allowed in blanket seating areas at any time, either before or during concerts. Limited space is available for lawn chairs on the sides behind the reserved seating. Sand chairs, back rests, etc. are allowed in blanket seating areas only if the back legs are four (4) inches or less in length. Back rests may not exceed shoulder height.
So, with my health issues, I set out to find a comfortable seat with back legs four inches or less in length...... That way we could enjoy the show and still be in shape for hand holding at a local motel :)
But, I was soon to discover, chairs of this type were designed to hold size 2 females in a bikini at the beach. The spouse and I would require chairs that could hold 250 plus pound adults.
Hmmm, this should be easy. But it isn't.
I found a couple of sand chairs at a local drug store. They looked flimsy and narrow. How do you discretely check to see if your butt fits in a foldable chair in a public store? Maybe I should bring a tape measure and my own body dimensions with me as I shop, that would be logical. A store clerk asked if I needed help, I wondered "does this chair fit my butt?" but decided not to ask. I was going to wait until I was alone in the aisle, but I remembered You-tube and store cameras. Who really wants to be the newest you-tube sensation by getting caught on camera comparing your oversized behind to various seat dimensions?
When you live in a country where 75% of adults are predicted to be overweight by 2015 it should be simple to find a chair for a fat girl. But Supersize Nation hasn't caught up with chair manufacturing. Is it me? Or is America missing out on an industry we could be first in. The engineering of Adaptive Technology for Operative Mechanics to Assist Basic Obese Manufacturing. Or ATOM-BOM as I have just named it.
You see, it isn't just these chairs. I have had trouble finding exercise equipment that will hold our weight. Clothes? I have to buy them online. Our mattress? We are getting a new topper as 500 pounds of burning love has put a sizable dent in the middle of the bed. It just goes on and on. Really, if 75% of us are going to be fat in a few years shouldn't it be harder to find that chair for a size 2 bikini wearer?
I understand if industry doesn't want to embrace a stampede of overweight consumers (don't do a visual, it will just hurt your eyes). The aisles in stores would need to be wider. Airplanes would need to have larger seats. The thin and malnourished would claim minority status. It would be the world turned upside down. So, I suppose the answer is that the husband and I learn how to weigh less, take care of our health and eventually fit in a standard chair. A chair that is allowed to be used on the lawn of the Britt Festival.
Health News of interest:
Salsa, guacamole -- and a side order of food-borne illness.
1 in 25 food-borne illness outbreaks can be traced back to salsa and guacamole, ever wonder how long that salsa has been on the table?
Hot flashes? Losing weight may help.
"If you're a woman who is overweight or obese, you can substantially improve your hot flashes by losing weight through diet and exercise," says Alison Huang, M.D., the lead author of the study and a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.
Gene Linked to Obesity May Also Raise Dementia Risk.
Research has shown a link between the FTO gene, obesity, levels of leptin and dementia.
FDA:'Significant' Weight Loss With Qnexa; Review Set.
Vivus Inc. has a new weight loss drug that the FDA is considering.