Pizza & Coke

Pizza and Coke. It's a lifestyle. You come home from work after a long Friday afternoon and you order a pizza, coke, veg out on the couch, and turn on the tube. This is a lifestyle for many Americans and it shows. This why we have the problem of obesity in the United States. We order pizza, drink coke, and turn on tele because it is convenient. Everything we do is convenient. Why cook, when you can get take out or order in. Why do anything but watch the tube? Why recycle? That takes too much work. After all, it is so accessible and easy. So people fall in to these traps. These traps of inactivity and laziness.

I however am lucky enough to live in a health, fitness, and environmentally conscious town. I live in Flagstaff, Arizona a hip college town nestled beneath the San Fransisco Peaks of Northern Arizona. Most people here are rugged, laid back, and quirky. Before I moved here I did not know a town could be so conscious of health and fitness. Most people bike rather than drive. People would rather read a book than watch t.v. People would rather cook than go out.

I grew in Pueblo, Colorado and it is incredibly strange to visit there now. The general lifestyle of people there is lazy and stagnant. The city doesn't change and its holds traditions close. Many of my close friends from high school still live there and with their parents. On a typical day they will come home from school and plop on the couch and turn on the tube. Stereotypical modern America. And I used to know this lifestyle but now it completely baffles me. Why would one veg out on the couch when they could be outside enjoying the day? Why would one spend extra money on going out, when they could cook something healthier in the comfort of their homes? I ask myself these questions and do not really have to answer.

I could blame it on the media, movie stars, and could come up with up plenty of excuses. But in reality, Americans generally take all our freedom and opportunities for granted. After all, why work hard if there's an easier way out. If many Americans would just open their eyes and look around, they realize how much there is to see in this beautiful country. And maybe we would want to cherish it, get off our buts, go pick some fresh food, find a good book, and travel. Then maybe we would be less lazy, more active, proactive, and lead a healthy lifestyle. I don't know if I am right or wrong, but somewhere out there people agree.