The Continent of Excess

I was doing some preliminary research the other day, looking into the purchase of some golf shirts. I needed a variety of sizes, one of which was, I thought, a medium. They showed me the shirt... it was huge. So I asked for a small... still huge. I pointed this out, and they suggested that I look at the "Modern Fit", but those only come in the tech shirts and are still bigger... when I asked why the smalls were so huge, she said that they're from American companies - and at the trade shows, the number one question that retailers ask is "Does it come in XXXXXL?".


Paul was down in San Francisco, and ordered a plate of pasta. When it arrived, he was completely taken aback - it was a portion that was the same size that he would cook for himself AND Emily for a week's worth of meals.

I was looking into a new car - preferrably a small-size SUV. I had to search high and low for one that was available in standard transmission - apparently we find shifting gears here in North America to be a hardship better pushed aside.

I find it depressing that this is the direction of our North American culture - that we are so lazy, and that we live in such an age of excess, that we have to make "small" shirts the same size as what used to be extra-larges, and that shifting gears is too much work.

Is anyone else frightened by the direction our society is going?

~ Guy