Hands Off!

Yesterday there was an uprising on Twitter after New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announce a proposal which would ban any sugary drinks over 16 oz in places like restaurants and movie theaters within the city. Science has proven that sugary drinks are one of the leading causes for people being overweight and the Mayor wants to make his city a healthier place to be. He thinks if we all drank a little less Mountain Dew it would go a long way. (Apparently, Mayor Bloomberg has never ordered a 16 oz. drink in a restaurant because if he had he would know it is made up of about 12 oz. of ice.) Personally, I just added this announcement to the list as one of the many reason I don't want to live in New York City. Look, soda is my one vice. When I was working overnights at ESPN the only thing which got me through several of those first late nights were my frequent trips to 7-11 for a Big Gulp and a shot of caffeine. I don't smoke, never touch drugs stronger than aspirin and on the rare occasions I end my week with a couple of beers I never drink enough of them to even come close to being drunk. Don't take my Diet Pepsi away from me.

This is the kind of over-reach by officials that I hate. I can't stand it when politicians feel it is their job to save us from ourselves. It is the same principle that leads me to think there shouldn't be seatbelt laws for anyone over the age of 18. Of course wearing a seatbelt is a good idea, but if you are too stubborn to realize that it is not the government's place to make you. Same with helmet laws; if you want to scream down the highway on a motorcycle at 100 mph without a helmet on that is your right - just like it will be our right to laugh at your funeral. Besides, people are going to make poor choices, regardless of what the government wants. There are warning labels all over a pack of cigarettes, they are raise the tax on them every third week and at this point you would have an easier time advertising a porno during the Super Bowl than you would a cigarette and yet the tobacco companies are making just as much money as ever before. There are enough laws on the books which tell me what I can and can not do, they should not be allowed to take away my right to make bad decisions about what I eat. If you can fight and in a war and cast a vote for the Leader of the Free World than no one should be able to tell you that 32 oz of Diet Pepsi are too much for one sitting.

[Sidebar: Proposals like this are one of the main reasons I am a registered Independent. I would hate to have to back an idea I thought was stupid just because one party or another endorsed it. Yet, I watched it yesterday as the people on MSNBC defended the plan, saying it would help curb obesity. No it won't and they know it. All this law would do is make people buy two drinks. I guess you could count that as an economic stimulus, but not a very good one. Also, you'll notice that the Mayor didn't say anything about banning alcoholic drinks of that size. That seems to me like it would be a bigger problem. So, it is totally cool to have 32 oz. of rum, but God forbid someone try to cut that by adding Coca-Cola? Anyway, this stance has put me in the unusual position of agreeing with the talking heads on Fox News who pointed out that while no one was going to endorse giving a kid 32 oz. of soda, that doesn't change the fact that they should be allowed to decide that for themselves. Sidebar over, I need to go take a shower and wash the Fox stink off.]

I happen to think there are plenty of great government programs which help people out in their time of need, such as MediCare, Social Security, Food Stamps. But as long as I'm not asking for their help and paying my taxes than I certainly don't want their opinion on my day-to-day choices. I know what you're probably thinking: what do you care? You don't live in New York and have no intention of moving there. Yeah, but this kind of stuff has a way of spreading. I don't even know what trans fats are, I just know they started getting banned somewhere else and now they are rarer than the Dodo bird. If this passes in New York it will only be a matter of time before it becomes law in other places. It also raises the question of where the line is. I joked before about how this law said nothing about alcoholic drinks, but that is probably coming next. Then it will be caffeine drinks. Let's see how all you Starbucks lemmings feel about that. (Oh right, you'll all be too tired to fight it.) My point is simple: Mayor Bloomberg, keep your hands off my soda. Considering you fought for an amendment to get around New York's two-term limit for Mayors maybe you aren't the one who should be telling us about personal limits to begin with.