Question for Kristie

Yup, you're right. When I was in New Zealand, I do not recall seeing a single obese person. I was the only one I saw with an American accent for most of the time.

Then I went on a tour and before they even opened their mouths, I knew that there was an American family. Both the mother and father were huge, and the kids weren't small, either.

Later, when I was out, I got asked by a couple of Kiwis who I had gotten to know pretty well why we Americans are so fat.
 
It's the stupid french fries and pizza! LOL. If you go to Samoa or Tahiti it would be a different story.
 
The funny thing is, we went to a restaraunt in the Rue Cler district in Paris and the only pissed off people at the restaraunt were speaking in English.

This one couple next to us were appalled that the waiter hadn't brought their check yet. I interjected that they usually won't check on you until you give a quick, polite "s'il vous plait?"

Obviously, this guy didn't do a thing to study French culture beyond buying a ticket on Orbitz! I guess people don't realize that you really can't just GO to a foreign country, you've got to study up on the customs a little so you can function.

Personally, I despise waiters in the US that immediately try to clear my plate and then immediately set a check down and scamper off. What if I wanted to relax and order a few more drinks?

Dine -n- dash sucks.
 
Yeah, I waited tables when I got laid off and what they wanted us to do was messed up. For example, at lunch time, we were supposed to drop the check after we came back to see if they liked their food. I refused to do it.

I figured that if I did that, I could kiss any chance of someone ordering a cappucino or dessert good bye. Granted, most Americans don't need that dessert, but still.

And the thing that cracks me up is that the restaurants that are the wannabes are the ones who insist that their servers do that kind of thing.
 
In Germany, we sat down to dinner at 4:00pm and didn't leave until 11:00pm and then they were still like, "Vat is Vrong? Eez Everyting ok?"

In France, we'd sit down to dinner at 7:30-8pm, and leave around 11:30pm so we could catch the last Metro train back to Marais!

Meanwhile, if I hit a restaraunt in the states, I could have half of my main dish left over the the waiter is either pimping me to choose a dessert, or giving me the regular "No rush, but I'm just going to leave this (the check) here, I'll be your cashier when you're ready"
 
And Italy has some of the most laid-back dining habits on the Continent, as well as the best food (IMHO), yet they are, generally, some of the fittest looking people you'll see anywhere. I think that the relaxed dining promotes eating smaller portions - your body has time to tell your brain that it's full, rather than the American habit of stuffing as much food in as we can in the shortest amount of time, then an hour later going "Ugh, I'm full...".

The one area that I think Americans have the health edge is in smoking - it is still very common and relatively accepted throughout Europe while it is becoming more and more socially unacceptable here. Now if we'd just learn to eat better (and I'm as guilty as anyone so I'm not on a soapbox here...)

Just the thought of a leasurily Italian dinner with some good vino....
Crap, can't start thinking that way on a Monday morning!
 
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Meanwhile, if I hit a restaraunt in the states, I could have half of my main dish left over the the waiter is either pimping me to choose a dessert, or giving me the regular "No rush, but I'm just going to leave this (the check) here, I'll be your cashier when you're ready"

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Ah, but that's because the managers there have pounded their servers to get the table turned quickly. For example, where I worked, I was supposed to get people in and out of there in 45 minutes if it was lunch, or one hour if it was dinner. And in the meantime, they're asking me to push an appetizer and desert in addition to the meal. How the hell are you supposed to eat an appetizer, main course, and dessert in an hour without giving yourself indigestion? I always got dinged as having really slow turn times but I didn't care. If they tipped me well and sat there an extra 15 minutes, so be it.

And TheWife, yeah, we did have a Joe's Crab Shack but I didn't work there. I was a total slacker and started working at a restaurant that opened up right next to where I was doing another fill in job.
 
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