Odds and Ends

Garbage - What was once a physically demanding job is now automated it seems. This week I watched a garbage truck picking up and dumping the rolling trash cans most cities/counties now use. An arm came out of the side and lifted, emptied and replaced the can at the edge of people’s driveways. Does this mean that garbage collectors now have sedentary jobs? If their jobs have changed, but not their lunches (super sized fast food combos) they will be the next obesity victims.

Policy - I am someone who advocates policy changes in order to address chronic disease. These policies could include nutrition labeling, sidewalks in neighborhoods, taxing soda, etc. Often times the rebuttal to these strategies is that people have or should have free choice to make their own (wise) decisions. I have recently seen two separate but related examples that regard street crossing. Along several blocks near a University in WS a fence has been erected down the middle of the road between the stoplights so that students will stop trying to cross the street without waiting for a signal or using the cross walk. It is a TALL, wrought iron fence (pretty even). Last week at my own university, the side walk near one of the buildings was roped off and volunteers were keeping watch. I asked what was going on and was told that people would leave graduation and all emerge into the street without really looking so they wanted to corral them so to speak, to use the cross walk. SIGH.

More Tobacco Tricks - I noticed an advertisement placard for Newport cigarettes at a gas station this week. To the best of my knowledge Newport has always been a menthol cigarette and it, along with Kools, is popular with black Americans. There has been some effort to ban menthol cigarettes, as all other flavored cigarettes are illegal. Kools, Newport and Salems, and any menthol cigarette I am familiar with, come in green boxes. If Newport switches to a red box now - which was the gist of the sign that I saw, Newport Reds... they may be readying the way to cross smokers over to the nonmenthol Newport.

Vegan Food Pusher - I was at a festival yesterday with a friend. Two women walked up to us and offered us a taste of vegan beef jerky. I declined, as did my friend. One of the ladies said, "But you are so thin, you look like a vegetarian." What the heck?? I said that I was a vegetarian. I just didn't want any jerky. People are so "pushy!"

Week Ahead - The week (months) ahead will be busy as I have identified my work projects for the summer. Most of my activities will involve policy related to informed eating and nutrition labeling. I will also continue work on the bicycle helmet use paper and assist the coordinator of the masters Public Health program at my school. I am assisting another of my professors with material for her two fall statistic/methods classes ( and thus learning more myself) and am working on a public health entrepreneurial course - I am engaged in several community groups as well and so - may be able to blog less than I have in the last few weeks. PLUS, someone I love dearly just gave me a brand new novel to read!