You're Fat! You're Fired!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1hqHo6lyUU&feature=player_embedded

As if the social pressure of being overweight wasn’t bad enough, it now appears that fat hatred has manifested economically in a very alarming way.

Check out the link above that one of my Facebook friends posted this week. Japan’s government has declared a war on fat. EVERYONE over the age of 40 will have their waistline monitored. Men are allowed waists of 33 ½ ”, women 35 ½ ”. Anything over that measurement is considered overweight, and corporations face huge fines if their employees do not weigh or measure into those guidelines.

Think about that for a moment. Imagine what it would be like if this kind of edict drifted overseas to North America … and I honestly believe it won’t be long before it does. Can you imagine being at work one day, and called into your boss’s office for a discussion about your weight? Can you imagine being told that if you don’t lose weight, you’re gone? That’s what would happen if your company was fined because of your weight. You would be given a few warnings, a few chances to comply, then given your walking papers.

Imagine being under that kind of pressure. Not only are most people under the gun these days as far as being able to pay their bills and pay off debts. Imagine having the added pressure of needing to lose weight SIMPLY TO KEEP YOUR JOB.

Imagine the added humiliation of having your thin co-workers who conveniently fit into the guidelines sit back and watch you struggle to meet this added pressure. Maybe they’d place bets on whether you’d be able to pull it off, or how long you’d last before you got turfed. Maybe they’d all laugh about you in the lunchroom, watching you go through this hell.

Medical talking heads and just plain idiots in general will undoubtedly defend this fascist practice by saying that it is in the interest of public health, and that it’s for everyone’s own good. God knows the average working stiff doesn’t have the ability or sense to take care of themselves, so the government has to step in and do it for them. I wonder if the same idiots applauding this measure would be as enthusiastic if it became mandatory company policy for them to quit smoking, drinking and doing drugs, and having illicit sex (all in the interests of their better health, of course). Nah, don't think so.

The only part of this dogma that I actually think is beneficial is the exercise breaks twice a day. Not only is it good for your health, but it would break up the monotony of any desk job. Nothing wrong with that. It’s getting your waistline measured and being pressured to get down to government-regulation size that I think is unconscionable.

Thank God I’m self-employed. When I ditched the corporate world and resolved to work for myself, I thought it was only my sanity and integrity that benefited. In Japan, quite a bit more is at stake now. This is a horror story. We can only pray that this fascism doesn’t invade our shores.