It’s not completely my fault, though. I didn’t have much choice. I work in a predominantly black neighborhood and when I get hungry and consider my options, fried and just plain unhealthy is all I have at my disposal. If I step out the door and look around, I see Wendy’s, an Asian-fried wings hybrid and signs that point me to the nearest Mrs. Winner’s fried chicken restaurant. Oh, and a huge liquor store; gotta throw that in for good measure. There’s something criminal about that.
I realize that demand typically dictates supply (with a little coercion), but I feel that at some point we need to be saved from ourselves. And spare me the “personal responsibility” rhetoric, because convenience, whether based on economics or proximity, more often than not trumps that. So, blacks may feel they’re being responsible by saving money and buying the least expensive fast-food item, which is typically the worst for you, or by adhereing to that hour lunch and only venturing out far enough to where they can get back from lunch on time.
I thought we were getting some kind of reprieve when KFC introduced their arguably popular baked chicken using Oprah’s enormous launch pad. I hurriedly printed out my free coupon and drove right to my local — in a black neighborhood — KFC, only to discover baked wasn’t available there. The store’s equipment hadn’t even been upgraded to meet the requirements of baking chicken. Er?!?! That’s been over a year ago and to date, they STILL don’t have the equipment.
Blacks lead the way in almost every grim health statistic known to man, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why. If you live or find yourself in a black neighborhood, look around. No scientific or statistical analysis is necessary to predict what will befall us; our raggedy lives are simply a product of our environment. –painfully aware
