So while paroozing the many news stories on Google news, I came across one that seemed rather… stupid. According to the San Mateo Daily News, the City of San Francisco is planning to ban plastic water bottles from its City Hall building. Why? It’s an attempt to be more eco-friendly, and instead of handing out bottled water to City Hall’s employees, water in meeting rooms and offices will be found in pitchers or water fountains.
Wow, who cares? That’s great, but what about the latest health scares/trends that suggest tapwater is bad for you? I mean, for the past couple of years everyone has jumped on the idea that bottled water is worth the cost and effort in order to save yourself from God-knows-what kind of cancer or disease caused by… something… in the water. Right? Now all of a sudden caring for the Earth is more important? So many of these trends and stupid things are becoming obsolete in the name of some other trend or scare that it’s getting retarded. I actually read an article not too long ago suggesting that recycling isn’t worth it - the harmfulness of the transportation and refineries that recycle the stuff creates more hazardous pollution than simply making new materials. Other studies are saying that being a little overweight is actually healthier, and that certain other healthy foods or organics may not be as good for you as once (and by once I mean like last week) believed.
To me it’s a problem of now, now, now. People see things like global warming, fat, some diseases, and simply jump on the latest “clinical trial” train or shoddy scientific study bandwagon and take things way too far. Look at all of the diets, diet pills, medications, machines and things. Atkins was supposed to be the “perfect diet.” But then people started noticing it’s bad for the liver, or heart, or whatever. Then there’s the pills – how often have you seen things like phen-phen, or more recently some cholesterol medications, because now apparently these may KILL YOU. We see it all the time, too: the “new” medication that will help with your allergies but will give you diarrhea, nosebleed, sore throat, nausea, insomnia, internal bleeding, gingivitis, backache, headache, earache, “reproductive” problems, etc. Instead of putting everyone’s lives in danger, why not take an extra year, test this crap, refine it so the side effects aren’t worse than the problem, and release it as a safe drug? Because people want to get rid of their herpes NOW, companies and CEOs want to market the stuff NOW to get the money NOW, and as a result you end up shitting your pants as a side effect of the latest medication – but hey, you lowered your cholesterol 3 points!
The same thing applies with stupid, idiotic things like this bottle ban in San Francisco. One day it’s good, the next day it’s bad. I think people need to just calm the F down, think about things for a little while, and stop getting freaked out about things because Oprah said so. Just relax a bit, stop worrying so much, and enjoy life. Until, of course, the study comes out that says being stressed and worrying constantly is good for your heart because it exercises it by beating faster, good for your weight because of all the pacing and hand wringing you do, and a pill is made by Pfizer that will actually make you worry and stress more. That is until half of America starts having heart attacks at age 30, or a newer trend is born.
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