If You Build it they will Grow.
While I have only been in Europe (France specifically) for a week now I have been overcome by the differences I am confronted with everyday. My roommate Sean Davidson immediately pointed out why Americans are so.....well, damn fat. This in turn has side effects beyond simple and complex health reasons
It all starts with the size of our "tank." They (whom ever they are, thats another blog altogether) say a fish grows relative to the size of its tank. In America we strive to make everything bigger. First is the obvious food; Big Mac, Whopper, Extra large pizza, 64oz. cola, Super Sizing, buffets, and all those other appetizing meals. This in turn makes bigger size clothing become the standard. U.S. companies make a size medium shirt which would be a large in France. I can wear smalls in most US companies and nothing less than a medium over here. Next is cars, each seat is huge so we can fit in them for the drive thru, something they dont have much of in Europe.
Then we get home to our big house with big doorways and big hallways. We have extra large comfy chairs and a half dozen remote controls to assist in our comic relief for the next few hours. We eat from big plates which hold more food, and again have big glasses to drink bigger amounts of liquid. We have unlimited ice in our freezer so we can keep refilling and never feel the need to slow down. I understand Europe is not huge on ice anyway, mainly because of poor water purification but even when an ice maker is spotted in a home or even restaurant, its the old style tray in the freezer.
Oh, and our sidewalks and street are even twice the size, yes just the sidewalks are bigger in America so we can pass each other. Then on the other hand we don't have as many sidewalks because we drive as little as three blocks. Ugh. Our gas is WAY cheaper, yes even today. At the best possible rate I have seen, the current price of petrol in France translates to $5.24 a gallon, again much smaller cars are used.
In the US we have everything huge so then we feel we have to grow bigger to fill the space and be comfortable in our surroundings.
Then our health care costs are insane, mostly taking care of the obesity problem and thousands of related diseases. "Free" health care around the world means people don't get so far into the gutter that it takes years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to get them out, or worse they don't make it out. They get sick, they go to the doctor and are cured before serious illness hits them and are on their way.
Heck, they even smoke over here WAY more than in the States, but with things like afternoon store closings of four hours and no work on Sunday they have less stress and fatigue, and a closer family bond.
So..... we need to make things smaller. Homes, doorways, stairwells, cars, sidewalks, clothes, furniture, dishes and the places we are most. When that happens we will find the necessary reasons/ways/methods of dealing with our lives on a healthier and more comfortable level. I now finally see why the Gov't has so many days off, now if they would only promote the same for the rest of our land.
Smaller is better:
The size of this street doesn't seem to restrict anyone.
Here is a typical French beer bottle, next to my typical American Coffee cup.
Our kitchen seemed way to small at first, now we don't think twice about it.
I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but these stairs are only two feet wide, and wind upward.
