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Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:00 AM
 
Location: NE PA
7,931 posts, read 15,768,158 times
Reputation: 4425

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NEPA counties are among the state's least healthy - News - The Times-Tribune

Big surprise here, in an area where you're not "cool" if you don't smoke, and the biggest day of the year to a lot of people is waiting in line at 6 am to drink yourself into a stupor on "parade day." And "fasting" consists of not eating chicken or beef, but gorging on pizza and fried fish.
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:20 AM
 
28,164 posts, read 25,193,238 times
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Coupled with the fact that we have many poor people living in the area that cannot afford to eat healthy meals, we have corporations that pollute the air, soil and water with their manufacturing, etc.

I didn't realize it was cool to smoke anyway. I thought that went out of style 20 years ago?
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Old 02-18-2010, 10:08 AM
 
Location: NE PA
7,931 posts, read 15,768,158 times
Reputation: 4425
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magritte25 View Post
Coupled with the fact that we have many poor people living in the area that cannot afford to eat healthy meals?
You can eat healthy on a budget. Somehow lots of poor people afford cigarettes, beer, and drugs. If you're low-income, you may not be able to buy all organic or whatever, but it doesn't mean you have to eat McDonald's, pizza, and Twinkies every day. You can eat reasonably healthy on a budget.

If this area is so poor, why are the bars packed every night? I would think beer is a luxury item if you struggle to be able to feed your family healthy food, but there's no shortage of drinking (and smoking) in this area. Friends and family from out of town have always commented in surprise and disgust at how many people they see smoking in this area.

But don't let common sense get in the way of you going out of your way to argue any point I make.
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Old 02-18-2010, 10:15 AM
 
Location: NE PA
7,931 posts, read 15,768,158 times
Reputation: 4425
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magritte25 View Post

I didn't realize it was cool to smoke anyway. I thought that went out of style 20 years ago?
Drive through Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, and any town in between and you'd think smoking is as normal as breathing. Between people hanging around and smoking, and the amount of littered butts on the sides of roads and intersection, you'd think smoking is the thing to do if you didn't realize how backwards this area can be.
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Old 02-18-2010, 12:20 PM
 
Location: NEPA
2,009 posts, read 3,769,148 times
Reputation: 1960
Quote:
Originally Posted by go phillies View Post
NEPA counties are among the state's least healthy - News - The Times-Tribune

Big surprise here, in an area where you're not "cool" if you don't smoke, and the biggest day of the year to a lot of people is waiting in line at 6 am to drink yourself into a stupor on "parade day." And "fasting" consists of not eating chicken or beef, but gorging on pizza and fried fish.
You got that one right!!! St Patty's day around here just amazes me, i can't believe the extent people go to on that day to get drunk.
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Old 02-18-2010, 06:21 PM
 
Location: NEPA
923 posts, read 3,085,523 times
Reputation: 382
Quote:
Originally Posted by sues1 View Post
You got that one right!!! St Patty's day around here just amazes me, i can't believe the extent people go to on that day to get drunk.
And their proud of it !!!
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Old 02-18-2010, 07:30 PM
 
Location: The New England part of Ohio
23,903 posts, read 32,215,880 times
Reputation: 67841
I agree with BOTH Magritte and Go Phillies. As someone who is still technically an "outsider" I do detect that there is a very stolid form of entrenched reverse snob-ism and fatalism in the area that is one of my least favorite elements of NEPA life.
It goes something like " this is the way we do it around here and if it was good enough for my father grandfather etc ( even if they did pass on in their late 40's) it's good enough for me !"
This is how we eat and drink here and if you don't like it stay in (fill in the blank) NY NJ or California with the rest of the yuppies.
It's an attitude that is of course ultimately self destructive. This really has nothing to do with politics. Eating healthy and abstaining from vices such as smoking are not conservative or liberal ideas. They are just smart.
Making good and wholesome choices for your self and your family involves both self discipline and the use of common sense. It also involves breaking with family and ethnic traditions which may be destructive to ones health. SOME people in this area seem to have a hard time with change and with personal responsibility. Some obviously do not.
While is is possible to eat decent food on a tight budget the prevalence of fast food restaurants makes it a good deal easier to choose something from the dollar menus than to make something from scratch bought at a place like Weggeman;s (sp???)
When I reviewed a then new vegan restaurant a few years back, I was totally attacked by several
members of this forum. I was not suggesting that all of NEPA "go vegan" - I am not a vegan myself - I was just pointing out that there was a healthy, tasty and environmentally conscious restaurant that is not too costly and offers a healthy alternative to the usual fare.
Even mainstream nutritionists recommend a diet high in fruits veggies fiber and grain and that sweets and fats be used rarely. Some people think this is a "radical notion" but eating this way dates back to ancient times!
In the Bible Jacob tricked his brother out of his inheritance over what most biblical scholars believe to be a bowl of lentil soup! A delicious component of the highly regarded Mediterranean diet - and an inexpensive dish to prepare!
As far as smoking and drinking ones self into a coma - these are dangerous behaviors that are disproportionately engaged in by less educated economically disadvantaged people.
However they are not the only ones who live this way and I feel that it is wrong to "blame the victim" - when you take a look at how big business targets these neighborhoods with relentless advertising for liquor cigarettes and fast food - not just in NEPA - I must suspend judgment and err on the side of compassion.
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:25 PM
 
Location: Louisville, KY
1,590 posts, read 4,608,294 times
Reputation: 1380
i'm always SHOCKED at the amount of smokers in NEPA when i return home....
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:33 PM
 
4,526 posts, read 6,066,132 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by go phillies View Post
You can eat healthy on a budget. Somehow lots of poor people afford cigarettes, beer, and drugs. If you're low-income, you may not be able to buy all organic or whatever, but it doesn't mean you have to eat McDonald's, pizza, and Twinkies every day. You can eat reasonably healthy on a budget.

If this area is so poor, why are the bars packed every night? I would think beer is a luxury item if you struggle to be able to feed your family healthy food, but there's no shortage of drinking (and smoking) in this area. Friends and family from out of town have always commented in surprise and disgust at how many people they see smoking in this area.

But don't let common sense get in the way of you going out of your way to argue any point I make.

i agree with your comments and i will NEVER understand the adherence to these unhealthy behaviors(am dealing with the return of asthma due to constant exposure to second hand smoke)
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Old 02-18-2010, 09:39 PM
 
4,526 posts, read 6,066,132 times
Reputation: 3983
Quote:
Originally Posted by sheena12 View Post
I agree with BOTH Magritte and Go Phillies. As someone who is still technically an "outsider" I do detect that there is a very stolid form of entrenched reverse snob-ism and fatalism in the area that is one of my least favorite elements of NEPA life.
It goes something like " this is the way we do it around here and if it was good enough for my father grandfather etc ( even if they did pass on in their late 40's) it's good enough for me !"
This is how we eat and drink here and if you don't like it stay in (fill in the blank) NY NJ or California with the rest of the yuppies.
It's an attitude that is of course ultimately self destructive. This really has nothing to do with politics. Eating healthy and abstaining from vices such as smoking are not conservative or liberal ideas. They are just smart.
Making good and wholesome choices for your self and your family involves both self discipline and the use of common sense. It also involves breaking with family and ethnic traditions which may be destructive to ones health. SOME people in this area seem to have a hard time with change and with personal responsibility. Some obviously do not.
While is is possible to eat decent food on a tight budget the prevalence of fast food restaurants makes it a good deal easier to choose something from the dollar menus than to make something from scratch bought at a place like Weggeman;s (sp???)
When I reviewed a then new vegan restaurant a few years back, I was totally attacked by several
members of this forum. I was not suggesting that all of NEPA "go vegan" - I am not a vegan myself - I was just pointing out that there was a healthy, tasty and environmentally conscious restaurant that is not too costly and offers a healthy alternative to the usual fare.
Even mainstream nutritionists recommend a diet high in fruits veggies fiber and grain and that sweets and fats be used rarely. Some people think this is a "radical notion" but eating this way dates back to ancient times!
In the Bible Jacob tricked his brother out of his inheritance over what most biblical scholars believe to be a bowl of lentil soup! A delicious component of the highly regarded Mediterranean diet - and an inexpensive dish to prepare!
As far as smoking and drinking ones self into a coma - these are dangerous behaviors that are disproportionately engaged in by less educated economically disadvantaged people.
However they are not the only ones who live this way and I feel that it is wrong to "blame the victim" - when you take a look at how big business targets these neighborhoods with relentless advertising for liquor cigarettes and fast food - not just in NEPA - I must suspend judgment and err on the side of compassion.
i applaud your compassion but as someone that is subjected now to more smoke filtering into my apartment from the next door tenant(after the landlord nicely asked her to smoke in the back porch/kitchen area)----i have lost ALL of my compassion for those in the cigarette/booze lifestyle----my charming neighbor BATHES in" EAU DE BUDWEISER"--every weekend
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