A couple of weeks ago, I grabbed a pair of jeans off the rack at a local clothing store and tried them on in the dressing room. I stared in wonder as the Incredible Expanding Denium slipped down around my waist, even though I'd worn the same size for a couple of years.
Now, I know I'm not crazy, nor are my friends and family members who've experienced the same thing when they try on skirts and slacks. The garment industry is making sizes bigger to accomodate America's weight problem; a few stitches here, and voila! "regular" becomes "slim cut," and size 4 becomes size 0.
This seems more than a little irresponsible to me, given the fact many people already shove the nation's ballooning obesity problem under the table. Maybe we should just eliminate size tags altogether and stop trying to make people feel good about themselves because they can fit into the "same" size they wore in high school.
Or, maybe we should actually pressure companies to educate consumers about the right dietary choices. If we spent as much money advertising vegetables as we do advertising soda, it might make a difference. Besides, then you could have lucrative Tomato vs. Broccoli wars, which might finally save us from the inundation of dewy-eyed starlets guzzling Pepsi and Coke. In all seriousness, however, the companies and citizens both play a role in what's happening to American waistlines. Either we wake up and realize the long-term health costs of our decisions, or we keep lying to ourselves as we slip into the next pair of jeans.
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