Realization of why the country is so obese
I went to the grocery store yesterday. I bought mostly fresh fruits and veggies, lunch meat and cheese, some chai, a couple bottles of spices, teriaki sauce, minced clams, and frozen peas... out of a total bill of 80.38 - I spent 30.8 on just fresh fruits and veggies (How did I spend the other $50? try sea food, spices (a couple different bottles), chai, lunch meat and cheese, crystal light mix, string cheese....). I can see how poor people don't eat well and go to McDonalds all the time. They can't afford fresh fruits and veggies when a box of Kraft Mac & Cheese is $1.00 -- and I eat $4.50 in just produce a day. (I seriously do eat this much produce when I make my own food - it's really easy if you are actually eating at least two servings of fruit and at 4-5 servings of veggies each day. Do I eat much other than the produce? A little - but after eating all that produce I'm not usually that hungry for stuff that has more fat and protein.)
This means that I spend 40+% of my money at the grocery store on things that are a lot more expensive per volume than the cheap "filling" carbohydrates and fats that you can purchase. I think I usually end up going into about two isles of the store outside of the outer edges each time - this is usually for things like spices and the occational can of something like chicken broth/stewed tomatoes/whole grain pasta/etc. Looking at the prices of the "standard" processed white flour pasta vs the whole grain more nutrition version is crazy. The whole grain version is like 3-5X the cost of the processed grain pasta. There's no way that people are going to spend their money on that unless they have it to spare.
It's hard to face the fact that so many people are less fortunate that myself. I'm not sure if I should use the word fortunate though. I am fortunate in the fact that my parents put education first and encouraged/helped me get through school and all the school bills. However, I can't completely contribute it to them. They didn't care what profession I chose - they just wanted me to choose one. If I went to college that was fine, if I decided to go cut hair I'm sure that would have been fine as well. I am the one that did well in high school, I am the one that got the most scholarships out of anyone in my senior class, I am the one that worked my bum off in college to be able to afford to keep going, I am also the one with the student loan debt as well to pay off (even if the interest rate is below inflation and I have no intention of paying it off early.) So while they did help me out when I needed it, I am ultimately the one that did all the work.
So I can't say that I pity those who are not as "fortunate" as I - because I worked my bum off to get where I am today. So it's weird to compare myself to where other people are at - as most of my friends end up being in a similar situation to me - graduated from college with a technical degree that ends up paying well above the norm of college graduates.
I know it must be rough to be at the bottom - but at the same time I can't completely pity everyone because part of it is their own fault.
I guess I have just always expected more out of myself - than most people at the bottom of the class chain feel like they are possibly capable of. I have a hard time understanding why people limit their expectations of themselves. Just because you fail once doesn't mean that you should stop. It just means that the way you approached the problem didn't work - and you just have to try something new. Most things are never over until you die (exceptions for things like college where you graduate.)
This means that I spend 40+% of my money at the grocery store on things that are a lot more expensive per volume than the cheap "filling" carbohydrates and fats that you can purchase. I think I usually end up going into about two isles of the store outside of the outer edges each time - this is usually for things like spices and the occational can of something like chicken broth/stewed tomatoes/whole grain pasta/etc. Looking at the prices of the "standard" processed white flour pasta vs the whole grain more nutrition version is crazy. The whole grain version is like 3-5X the cost of the processed grain pasta. There's no way that people are going to spend their money on that unless they have it to spare.
It's hard to face the fact that so many people are less fortunate that myself. I'm not sure if I should use the word fortunate though. I am fortunate in the fact that my parents put education first and encouraged/helped me get through school and all the school bills. However, I can't completely contribute it to them. They didn't care what profession I chose - they just wanted me to choose one. If I went to college that was fine, if I decided to go cut hair I'm sure that would have been fine as well. I am the one that did well in high school, I am the one that got the most scholarships out of anyone in my senior class, I am the one that worked my bum off in college to be able to afford to keep going, I am also the one with the student loan debt as well to pay off (even if the interest rate is below inflation and I have no intention of paying it off early.) So while they did help me out when I needed it, I am ultimately the one that did all the work.
So I can't say that I pity those who are not as "fortunate" as I - because I worked my bum off to get where I am today. So it's weird to compare myself to where other people are at - as most of my friends end up being in a similar situation to me - graduated from college with a technical degree that ends up paying well above the norm of college graduates.
I know it must be rough to be at the bottom - but at the same time I can't completely pity everyone because part of it is their own fault.
I guess I have just always expected more out of myself - than most people at the bottom of the class chain feel like they are possibly capable of. I have a hard time understanding why people limit their expectations of themselves. Just because you fail once doesn't mean that you should stop. It just means that the way you approached the problem didn't work - and you just have to try something new. Most things are never over until you die (exceptions for things like college where you graduate.)
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