The Obesity Epidemic

The obesity epidemic was the topic today on KQED's Forum. I emailed the show but my message didn't get chosen for on-air reading. I included a poem several of whose couplets I wrote almost 50 years ago. It has only become more true. For millennia the fat people were rich and the skinny people were poor. No more, not in this country.

SKINNY - AND WELL-NOURISHED

It's upper class
to have no ass

You'll fit in at the Ritz
If you have small tits

Be thin as a rail
And you just can't fail

No gut, much glory
Is a well-known story

Among the fast-paced
You'll find no waist*
     * pun intended

A FAT chance is tiny,
a big empty blank,
A SLIM chance is one you
can take to the bank

So if you'd like a mansion
or to look like you can buy it
then, my friend,
you'd best go on a diet.
                rev (add br's) 12/8/2015 rjm