It's time to stop the obese from pigging out in restaurants

With many thanks to sky_ace25 for his continued interest in this subject and his observations regarding the possible consequences of implementing a law designed to crack down on obese customers who behave anti-socially in restaurants. Some of these observations, however, are more valid than others. For example, the intent of the law would be solely to prevent the obese from offending other customers so drive-thru's and supermarkets would fall outside its scope, and this is the way the legislation should be implemented by law enforcement officers and applied by the judiciary. It is also difficult to envisage the fat black market that my opponent eluded to developing whereby shifty-looking characters stand on street corners approaching the passing obese and whispering: "Pssst! Wanna buy some donuts, Fatso?" since fatty food will be freely available for consumption except inside restaurants. That said, as with any law, there will be loopholes that the determined individual will exploit. For instance, everybody must pay tax but many rich people use offshore investment vehicles and other tax-avoidance rackets to avoid doing so. However, that doesn't mean the government should say that "everybody must pay tax, except rich people because they usually find a way of dodging them anyway". So, it may well be that certain unscrupulous restaurateurs will continue to allow the obese to stuff their big flabby faces on their premises but, just like restaurateurs who flout no-smoking bans, it only takes a few complaints from offended customers to attract the attention of the police. My opponent also wrote: "My opponent case has not established a reasonable amount of concern that would warrant such a wide-spread law, his opinion alone does not warrant a mass law. My opponent is proposing a policy that would damage the economy, remember all restaurants would have some form of economic implication; such as all-you-can-eat buffets being unable to serve obese." Firstly, there is actually a great deal of concern about the obese being allowed to gorge themselves on fatty foods in restaurants, most notably from the quarter you might least expect – from the obese themselves. That's right, because the morbidly fat are so unwilling to accept personal responsibility for their excess weight they instead blame fast food restaurants for serving them fattening food. This is why the obese have been known to take fast food restaurants to court in class actions known as "McLawsuits" (1, 2). In court, the obese have sought damages from the fast food merchants for allowing them to eat fattening food in their restaurants. In light of this, my new legislation should be welcomed by both the obese (who will lose weight) and the restaurants (who will not lose money). In addition, at least one state in America has proposed "to make it illegal for a restaurant to serve anyone with a body mass index of 30 or more". (3) Furthermore, The latest research shows that the obese are "getting greedier" with 93% of restaurateurs believing that the obese are a problem. (4) So, the fact that ‘all you can eat' buffets will become off-limits to the obese should be welcomed by weak-willed, heavy-treading customers who are unable to resist going back for second, third and fourth helpings and but also by the restaurants who risk being bankrupted by these gluttons' gargantuan greed. My opponent also wrote: "I would like to say that it is very common for people to have bad habits that people do not wish to see. The idea that we should enforce oppressive paternalism is immoral and unjust. I repeat let the streets sing against this law, ‘I am fat (obese) and I am proud!'" Frankly I very much doubt that we will ever see a ‘Fat Pride' march because the obese are usually too lazy to walk any further than the fridge so it's highly unlikely they would heave themselves off their sofas to spend the day walking the streets! Notwithstanding, the grotesque public consumption of obscene quantities of food by hideously fat people is anti-social and society does not have to tolerate anti-social behaviour. That's why lawmakers should introduce legislation that will stop the obese from pigging out in restaurants. Thank you. (1) http://www.entrepreneur.com... (2) http://www.urbandictionary.com... (3) http://www.consumeraffairs.com... (4) http://www.guardian.co.uk...