While at the community BBQ.....

Bshmerlie

Ok...true story. I'm on vacation in Carlsbad CA at a resort. I take my 10 ounce steak (yes I weighed it) down to the BBQ area. There is a family of four there and they are using both of the community BBQs. They have four porterhouse steaks....the huge ones like you get at costco. I'm sure they were at least 16 oz each. Then they had four racks of baby back ribs smothered in BBQ sauce and 6 full size cobs of corn. I then asked if I could squeeze my baby steak onto the grill and they said sure. When I was done and I was taking my steak off the mother said she felt guilty for having such huge steaks and poor little old me had just that one steak. I said, "oh, this one steak isn't just for me it's for three of us." She looked at me in horror like I was some poor homeless family. I then explained to her my family was just reining in on portion sizes to help get the weight down. She then looked back at her BBQ with a sad face as I said "Have a good dinner".

This is the problem in America. Everything is large. Large drinks, large steaks, refillable pop corn, family size candy bars. Everything is geared for us to over eat. Yes...they are on vacation and they're having a good time but at a certain point does anyone need that much food for dinner?

Now believe it or not I'm not judging her....I've been there and done the same thing. It just gets to the point we don't even realize how rediculous it is with regards to how much food we are eating.

Serah87

I don't worry what other people eat, just myself.

Dnarules

Feel better? Personally I don't think it was any of your business.

yesimpson

I could quite happily have a go at all that food. Wouldn't do it frequently, but I'd enjoy the opportunity. Might've been a rare blowout treat for that family.

galafael5814

You say you weren't judging her, but your post came across as very judgemental and your behavior seemed self-righteous. Who are you to worry about what her family is eating?

faidwen

I concur wholeheartedly. And DNARULES, although it was none of their business, they were simply making a social commentary on the sorry state of things in the Western World.

Gluttony, and not just related to food has become an epidemic.

It is unfortunate. Although I am not one to preach (and to each their own), the world would be a much better place when/if EVERYTHING wasn't "SUPERSIZED".

Thank you OP, for the insight.

Dnarules

faidwen wrote: »

I concur wholeheartedly. And DNARULES, although it was none of their business, they were simply making a social commentary on the sorry state of things in the Western World.

Gluttony, and not just related to food has become an epidemic.

It is unfortunate. Although I am not one to preach (and to each their own), the world would be a much better place when/if EVERYTHING wasn't "SUPERSIZED".

Thank you OP, for the insight.

But OP was making an assumption based on one holiday meal. I got no insight from the post at all except that OP thought their meal was superior.

D_squareG

This post makes me sad. I know a lot of people who feel righteous while they're taking it off and much more humble when the put it back on. Try not to judge what others eat. It's personal.

bpetrosky

I got something very different from the OPs post.

First, the family with the large portions felt sorry for the OP and much smaller portion size, and actually seemed puzzled that someone would willingly "suffer" such relative sacrifice.

The OP was equally shocked at the abundance the other family was indulging in, which as described could easily serve twice the number of people. There was no comment about the other family's appearance, so it can't be assumed this was a normal thing for them, but given their apparent looking down at the small portion it must not be something they've considered for themselves.

Given that many people in the US have become accustomed to portion sizes that were considered extravagant barely a generation ago, it's not hard to see a "culture clash" moment like that being eye opening.

Dnarules

bpetrosky wrote: »

I got something very different from the OPs post.

First, the family with the large portions felt sorry for the OP and much smaller portion size, and actually seemed puzzled that someone would willingly "suffer" such relative sacrifice.

The OP was equally shocked at the abundance the other family was indulging in, which as described could easily serve twice the number of people. There was no comment about the other family's appearance, so it can't be assumed this was a normal thing for them, but given their apparent looking down at the small portion it must not be something they've considered for themselves.

Given that many people in the US have become accustomed to portion sizes that were considered extravagant barely a generation ago, it's not hard to see a "culture clash" moment like that being eye opening.

That was OP's take on what they were thinking. There is just as much chance that they were thinking no such thing, and just enjoying themselves.

Bshmerlie

Guys...this wasn't meant to be judgmental on what one particular family is doing for dinner but what our entire Society is doing as a whole. Everything at our restaurants is about large portions or all you can eat. All packing and discounted pricing is geared to make us buy the larger product. Ever go to any other country and EVER seen a steak as large as the ones they sell at CostoCo? I'd think you'd be hard pressed to find one anywhere. Here on this forum we have all accepted responsibility for being overweight and people love to talk about self control. But every where you go you're being asked if up would like to upsize for only 50 cents more. I've been all over Europe, Japan, Mexico and they don't have any of that. You ever get a burrito in Mexico it's about the third of the size of a Chipotle burrito....assuming you're not in a tourist trap for Americans. American society and advertising is the real problem for future generations of Americans. Sorry some of you guys missed the point of the post.

jemhh

Thank you for the completely original and non-judgmental commentary on American food portions.

I'm off to rest my eyes as they ache from all of the rolling they did while reading this.

Bshmerlie

I'm sorry you're having a difficult time following along but this time I was being judgmental on American Society food portions. As a society I think we've done a good job about smoking awareness. This generation of Americans smokes less than the one before it. We need to take those same steps to curb the obiesety problem in America. I'm not sure if it's just CA or not but the major chain restaurants have been made to disclose calorie counts on their menus. That is a start. What should the next step be?