You never spent a lot of time thinking about your health. You have a normal appetite and good metabolism, and have no trouble eating a bit less when you realize that you need a mirror to see your private parts. You don’t get a lot of allergies, auto-immune issues or early-onset this or that. You enjoy the outdoors on some weekends, but nothing extreme. You don’t bother with lifting, yoga, running or other exercise for the sake of exercise. A bike ride through nature here and there, a hike or two while on vacation, playing catch or Frisbee (not “ultimate”) or shoot some hoops with the kids or buddies here and there. You are not ripped, only moderately toned, but you don’t care. You get sleepy around midnight, so staying up all night playing video games just doesn’t happen. Your job is sitting in front of the screen, so you naturally feel the need for moving your physical body once you are done with your workday. You sort-of judge those who look obese or have bad skin in their 30s or 40s, or those who eat McJunk for lunch daily. Life is good. Health is just not a thing you worry about.
Then you get a heart attack at 65 after shoveling snow in your front yard for a couple of hours.
Yup. A “Check Your Privilege” perspective was on my shortlist of things to write about. E.g. here’s a couple of LWers who are aware that they’re lucky that their weight stays at a healthy level and doesn’t change much no matter what they do.
The Health-Privileged
You never spent a lot of time thinking about your health. You have a normal appetite and good metabolism, and have no trouble eating a bit less when you realize that you need a mirror to see your private parts. You don’t get a lot of allergies, auto-immune issues or early-onset this or that. You enjoy the outdoors on some weekends, but nothing extreme. You don’t bother with lifting, yoga, running or other exercise for the sake of exercise. A bike ride through nature here and there, a hike or two while on vacation, playing catch or Frisbee (not “ultimate”) or shoot some hoops with the kids or buddies here and there. You are not ripped, only moderately toned, but you don’t care. You get sleepy around midnight, so staying up all night playing video games just doesn’t happen. Your job is sitting in front of the screen, so you naturally feel the need for moving your physical body once you are done with your workday. You sort-of judge those who look obese or have bad skin in their 30s or 40s, or those who eat McJunk for lunch daily. Life is good. Health is just not a thing you worry about.
Then you get a heart attack at 65 after shoveling snow in your front yard for a couple of hours.
Yup. A “Check Your Privilege” perspective was on my shortlist of things to write about. E.g. here’s a couple of LWers who are aware that they’re lucky that their weight stays at a healthy level and doesn’t change much no matter what they do.
It is in my drafts, as well… “Privilege is invisible to the holder”