| Topic: A Real Eye Opener 😱 |
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| 1. Author: GG Riva Date: Wed 15th Oct 2025. 20:51 I was on a cruise last week on an American ship on which the vast majority of cruisers were American. A stunning number of those people can only be described as super obese. We mostly used the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner and many of the aforementioned people did the same. The amount of food they could pile on a plate is unbelievable. Some folk would go up for more when they`d polished their first plate off. I`ve read that the least obese developed nation is Japan, with 19% of it`s population. The UK is about average with 29% and the US is the most obese with a staggering 39%. ![]() Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 2. Author: Bletchley_Par Date: Wed 15th Oct 2025. 21:02 It`s a good thing the rona killed off the body positive movement GG, or this might have went the way of some of your other threads. ![]() Reply |
| 3. Author: wee eck Date: Wed 15th Oct 2025. 21:03 I remember when I visited the States being surprised that a lot of restaurants, diners, etc had special reinforced seats for obese customers. Reply |
| 4. Author: P Date: Wed 15th Oct 2025. 21:04 GG Riva, Wed 15 Oct 20:51 We were on a cruise ship in the buffet restaurant which had 100’s of dishes from many countries. Young American couple early 20’s maybe (you can guess the size) complained there was nothing for them so ordered 20 (twenty) plates of macaroni cheese. Cruise staff are usually pretty amazing so accommodated and a few came out laden with trays of the gross stuff and they proceeded to eat 17 or 18 full plates between them. Most compelling viewing I’ve seen since the first time a saw the godfather. Since then we’ve been on multiple cruises and ‘some’ Americans greed is pretty gross but it’s really nothing to do with me what folk do on their holidays and I am more gluttonous than any other time of the year if I’m on a cruise ship with nearly all food & booze included. We’re off on a European cruise this weekend and will thoroughly enjoy it as it’s great for kids, the entertainment is top class and it’s a tremendous holiday especially compared to being gouged for UK centerparcs or the like (despite all the inevitable ‘I would never go on a cruise because….’ Comments that shall shortly be incoming) Reply |
| 5. Author: jake89 Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 09:02 GG Riva, Wed 15 Oct 20:51 North America generally gives portions that are far too big for normal people. There seems to be an expectation of bagging food up, which is hopeless if you`re a tourist. The UK doesn`t seem much better and will be getting worse given the increase in cost of living, particularly for healthier foods. Reply |
| 6. Author: Playup_Pompey Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 09:48 dont think its a new thing, i was in Florida 25 years ago and the behaviours mentioned above was common in every buffet place we visited. Seemed to be a learned skill about what order things went on the plate in order to maximise and "secure" the mound so nothing dropped off the plate as they made way back to table. Signs warning about waste incurring fines/additional surcharge were pointless as plates were emptied every time. Wasnt holiday behaviour this was day to day americans in america. Reply |
| 7. Author: GG Riva Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 12:21 Bletchley_Par, Wed 15 Oct 21:02 I`m.aware of the body positivity movement, BP, but who is Rona? I`m glad she killed it as it`s it`s totally nonsensical to placate those who are so overweight that it`s a minor miracle that they wake up each morning. And what do you mean by saying that my thread would otherwise have gone the way of all the others? ![]() Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 8. Author: Bletchley_Par Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 14:28 THE rona GG, we used it back in the day to circumvent censorship when discussing covid (corona). I do remember the "pitch black" thread. I admire your Trumpian approach to the sensibilities of the day but I do recall thinking with that particular thread, yeah this aint gonna last. ![]() Reply |
| 9. Author: Aaron Labonte Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 15:17 Bletchley_Par, Thu 16 Oct 14:28 That`s exactly what I thought when I first seen this thread. Reply |
| 10. Author: parsmad68 Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 15:41 I had the opposite experience in a cruise in Egypt this year. My wife and I were the only Europeans on the tour and not one American was overweight. Floridians, Californians, Oklahomans, Washington,Maryland. (The latter two I am not sure what you call someone from Washington or Maryland 😂). The only thing that was different was these were higher than average Americans. So is it a class divide. Too general for such a small amount of people, but the dynamic was definitely different than what I am used to when in the USA. None were Trump lovers either interestingly. I do agree thought that the food culture is absolutely unhealthy in the USA as we also toured across the USA this summer. I do think certain states are more conscious of this than others. In higher population densities it was more prevalent. It was really funny in Albuquerque in a steak house explaining that we ordered our starter salad for only one person to share with the steak main course. The server agreed that the food culture was an issue and he wouldn’t eat that amount. It is just what customers expect and we were the anomaly. Saying that I didn’t see many fat Americans on this trip which again surprises me looking back. Reply |
| 11. Author: GG Riva Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 17:43 Bletchley_Par, Thu 16 Oct 14:28 Thanks for the clarification. I thought "Rona" was a woman. 😃 Not sure I`m flattered in having my approach described as "Trumpian." He`s as far away from being my hero as it`s possible to be. 🙄 At the risk of going over old ground, my "Pitch Black" thread was intended as a celebration of the ethnic and cultural diversity within our club and the title was taken from a book of the same name that charted the history of black footballers in British football. Unfortunately, some posters totally misunderstood this and became fixated on a jocular remark my good friend made about the number of black players now playing for us and jumped to the conclusion that we were racists. 😔 Nothing could be further from the truth. ![]() Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 12. Author: Bletchley_Par Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 18:20 Quite a number of your threads are based on observational humour GG and some of the subjects are bit uncanny valley. You are the Bernard Manning of dot net. They can`t stop us laughing eh GG? ![]() Reply |
| 13. Author: GG Riva Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 18:49 Bletchley_Par, Thu 16 Oct 18:20 Bernard Manning? A bit course for my liking and about twice my weight. 😁 It was Bob Monkhouse who famously said "People used to laugh when I told them I wanted to be a comedian.... They`re not laughing now. 😀 ![]() Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |
| 14. Author: jake89 Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 20:06 I enjoy a good observation thread. I bet North Americans (including the Canadians) must come to Europe and complain about the small portions with big prices. I remember finding eating out incredibly cheap over there (with MASSIVE portions) but general grocery shopping was dearer. As a tourist you were often cheaper eating out. Reply |
| 15. Author: veteraneastender Date: Thu 16th Oct 2025. 20:25 GG Riva, Thu 16 Oct 18:49 Of coarse I agree GG 🙄 Reply |
| 16. Author: TAFKA_Super_Petrie Date: Fri 17th Oct 2025. 06:13 You only realise after coming back here from a trip to the US or Canada how much difference there is to everyday products of the same brand. The one that really caught my eye - literally, as it looked like it was brewed in Chernobyl with the glow - was orange Fanta which was totally different to what we get over here. The other one was breakfast cereals; not that i would ever consider the UK variety particularly healthy but seeing the colour of the leftover milk in our children's bowls made you think they really must cram it full of extra shite which we are saved from in the same product over here. --------------------------------------------------------------- ![]() [b]"People always talk about Ronaldinho and magic, but I didn't see him today. I saw Henrik Larsson; that's where the magic was."[/b] Post Edited (Fri 17 Oct 06:17) Reply |
| 17. Author: donj Date: Fri 17th Oct 2025. 07:45 We saw an American at the pool in Mexico who seemed to be naked walking towards us.He actually had a belly that totally covered his wee costume beautifully.At the A la Cartes they ate like they had never had food for ages. Reply |
| 18. Author: parsmad68 Date: Fri 17th Oct 2025. 09:48 The Chinese do the same with a la carte in Asia. Fill it up! Suppose it is what is in the food that is different. But Chinese people eat for fun. Actually Chinese food in China is great. It just has much more vegetables and less processed rubbish. On a slightly different topic, I heard in Singapore that they now used lab grown meat as a daily food source. Post Edited (Fri 17 Oct 09:49) Reply |
| 19. Author: Dave_1885 Date: Fri 17th Oct 2025. 10:47 Dont think we can take the moral high ground - on a caravan holiday this week and the number of obese people is just as bad - and theres no buffets here to gouge down on. Post Edited (Fri 17 Oct 10:47) Reply |
| 20. Author: GG Riva Date: Fri 17th Oct 2025. 14:08 Dave_1885, Fri 17 Oct 10:47 We maybe can`t but as a nation we`re not as obese as the USA. We`re sitting at 26%while they`re on 39%. That`s a 50% increase. Still not good and definitely no room for complacency. ![]() Not your average Sunday League player. Reply |