Mayor Bloomberg’s controversial ban on large and sugary sodas in New York fizzed out Monday when a judge in essence said to have a Coke and a smile and shut up.
The ban in question would have eliminated sales of sugary sodas larger than 16 ounces by restaurants, movie theaters, and other various establishments.
Justice Milton Tingling of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan referred to the ban as “arbitrary and capricious.”Plainly put there are just too many types of drinks sold under too many circumstances to have a clear and easily enforceable law that is fair to all types of vendors.
I am not sure where this leaves the issue at the moment nor do I care. The entire premise is ridiculous. This is a classic example of feel good liberal politics gone awry.
Let’s set aside for a moment the fact that it wouldn’t really be that hard to get more soda if one so desired. Free refills anyone? How about a double?
What about New York style pizza that is so loaded with cheese and heavy carbs your digestive system gets so bound that you can’t defecate for a week?
What about all of the alcohol use in New York? Does anything ever go wrong with alcohol consumption in New York?
Please allow me to share a little story to give this issue some perspective and sparkle.
Back in the day when I was a self-assured twenty year old, I had a summer job. Another guy, who was just slightly older than I was at the time (and he probably still is), was hired and we ended up working together for the day. He had the annoying trait of being compelled to tell his life story upon introduction. I am generally polite in such situations and did my best to act interested. It seemed that until this point in his life, this man had it all. He had a beautiful wife and charming children. He also had a promising career and a bright future. So, how did this thirty-something, clean cut man end up working a summer job with a twenty-year-old egghead like me?
Well, it seems as though he had a strong tendency to partake in the blow. I had to listen to him agonize about losing his wife and children due to his cocaine use. His wife had apparently warned him many times to change his ways, but he did not. Somewhere along the line the law busted him and, subsequently, the good job went down the shoot as well. Even while he was telling me these terrible things, he admitted that he still craved a good snort.
During the day, we stopped at a gas station. I decided to satisfy my sweet tooth. I picked up a two pack of orange Hostess cupcakes with filling inside. (At the moment the production of these tasty little items is on hiatus.) Being polite, I offered my new partner one of the delicious pastries. His response was, “Oh, no way man! There’s way too much sugar in ‘em things!”
This anecdote exemplifies how out of whack the balance of certain issues has become in our society. Among all of the substance abuse problems we have in this country goodness knows we don’t want people to have too many cherry fizzes!
Too much sugar in one’s diet is not healthy. That should be common knowledge and moderation should be trusted to the good sense of the consumers. The finer points of what constitutes good nutrition are complicated and people should be free to make their own choices.
Moreover, amid such things as drug addiction and alcoholism, if people walk the straight and narrow to the point that their worst vice is a soft drink let’s just leave them alone.
So THATS why I havent had to use the can all week. Great post.