No Wonder Fast Food Makes Americans FAT!

OK, I'm a bit cranky after a long frustrating day teaching with technology. Apparently, the projector that I hook my laptop up to when I teach wouldn't read my computer signal, so students couldn't see course notes, websites, etc. We were analyzing African American rhetorical and linguistic practices in digital environments while also providing digital rhetorical and visual rhetorical analyses of these sites; hence, we needed a working screen to view these sites together. And just when you were about to ask, I DID have a plan B. I uploaded the notes to Angel (our institution's equivalent to blackboard), since nearly every student carries a laptop to class (and the ones without them always partner up with a buddy who has one). So this didn't alter class too much.

The problem came when the IT people attempted to troubleshoot and fix the projector. As I was trying to carry on with class discussion while IT worked to fix the problem, the IT lady kept interrupting me and asking me to do something to my computer to see if the problem had been fixed. After several interruptions, I finally said forget it, and that we could carry on with class without the projector. She said OK, but returned twice more with different equipment, each time asking me to do something different with my computer. As my students giggled wondering how I was gonna handle her, I finally said politely that this was taking up too much time and that I really needed to get on with class. As soon as I said this, the projector started working. Hmmph.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what the relationship is between the IT story and fast food. Well, there is one. After a frustrating class period, I went to McDonald's to get fast food. Although I'm not much of a junk foodie and don't eat hamburgers at all, I really wanted some fries. And not to feel too guilty, I ordered a 4 piece chicken nugget Happy Meal, so that I could enjoy the junk in smaller portions. I was actually surprised at how few calories those things have. The whole meal was only 420 calories (230 for the fries, 190 for the nuggets, I gave soda away to Mr. Clark and drank water). Plus, the fries don't have any trans fats or cholesterol. Now, I'm not saying that I ate a healthy meal, but at least I won't have to pay too dearly for it.

Although the meal hit the spot, I have to admit that roughly two hours later I'm VERY hungry again. I don't think it's because I didn't get enough to eat with the Happy Meal (I always portion control things). But, because fast food is empty calories. And I think this is why Americans are overweight: We rely on fast food, and then like an hour later, we're hungry and have to eat again. I'm off to get a fiber granola bar and fruit. Hopefully that'll hold me out until dinner time.