Skinny Americans

Canadians, by and large, are slim. There are plenty of exceptions, but the large majority are thin and healthy-looking. This morning, in the local deli of all places, where I'd stopped in for a cup of coffee, I looked around and saw nothing but thin people. And when I walked home I didn't see a single person that was even chubby. The only common exceptions are among some of the older immigrants, who can be kind of stocky (but not fat usually), and among some of the very poor people. It's really only in front of housing projects that you see fat people lounging around.


Another exception: I went to a dance concert, and before it began I was introduced to the dance critic for the Globe and Mail. She was truly obese, morbidly so. She was so big they brought out a large chair for her and put it in the aisle. Everyone seemed to know her, though, and many people flurried around her asking her opinions about this and that.