Shame

I read a story this morning that Kirsty Allsopp, she of the C4 property series "Location x 3", had provoked ire among her Twitter followers by commenting on some random guy's breakfast.  Said person had consumed "A glass of coke, a cappuccino, a croissant and a ham and cheese sandwich," and, as a result, "Our NHS is toast".


I don't know about you, but I suspect that the person in question was attempting to assuage the mother of all hangovers - that lot is classic morning after fare.  But whether that is true or he was just getting off a night shift or he happens to like starting the day with caffeine and fat fuelled bang, it doesn't really matter. 


See, the first thing that occurred to me was, I bet the man was fat.  Ms Allsopp doesn't tell us (not enough characters left after listing out the gory details of the meal that insulted her so), but I have observed that in general, criticising the diet of fat people and pretending it is really a debate about the state of the country's health service, appears to be considered fair game.  It's why every time you see a news story about the rise in obesity rates it is accompanied by a picture of someone wearing jeans that are several sizes too small and chowing down on a cream bun. 


We all know being fat is unhealthy, and that discussions need to be had around what our poor, beleaguered health service can cope with (which is a far more complex point than "Let's not treat fat people and smokers!" whatever indignant commentators who lurk below the line on various news websites would like to think).  But people, let's not use the NHS as an excuse for being an old fashioned, common-or-garden bitch.