incarceration

I am not getting fat because I am pregnant. I am fat because I am poor.

Here on my tropical vacation, I have discovered that if I lived a life of leisure, I would not be fat. Even though I would eat ice cream everyday, get my money’s worth at large buffet breakfasts, and drink heavily sugared cocktails, I would not get fat because I would not be shackled to a desk.

I have re-realized what I learned long ago – being in front of a computer all day is like legalized incarceration. You're in for the crime that you commit against your body every time you glue your ass to a seat in front of cancer-inducing device instead of taking a walk (cue birds), growing your own vegetables (cue new age music), or taking a dance class (cue salsa). It’s a crime of the poor – those who work instead of luxuriate. Working used to be good for your body. Hard manual labor. Now we poor people sit in front of radioactive devices while rich people tend their own gardens and go to the gym.

I am fat now. Fully and totally fat. But its not because I’m pregnant or old or old and pregnant. It’s because I bought into a lifestyle that I thought I needed in order to provide for my child. If we all keep making all these sacrifices for our kids, and then our kids make all these sacrifices for their kids, then isn’t no one ever happy?