I am generally not one to count calories. I stick to a mainly Paleo-type diet, and so I eliminate many high-calorie foods as a result. But I think the calorie counts on menus is great. I think there are a lot of foods that people think are healthy but really aren't. Like salads. People see lettuce and the word salad and automatically think it's healthy. But some restaurant salads can have damn near 1,000 calories - more calories than a burger and fries. So if it makes people more aware of that, then I think it's a good thing.

As someone who is counting calories for weight loss, I really appreciate it when restaurants include the calorie count for their items. Then I can log it and I know that my numbers will be correct.

I actually stayed within my calorie goal for Easter. I'm proud of myself, usually I go hog wild on food and candy. I'm going to try and stay on track until the end of April, when family is in town and we're going to a delicious local Italian restaurant.

I was out with some friends this weekend. It was a restaurant/bar with a big, outdoor patio where most people were sitting because it was such a nice day. Some guy came barreling into the parking lot with this ridiculously huge, lifted, very loud, pick-up truck. It was hard to miss because you seriously could not hear anything other than this big-ass truck. He parked and then came in to the patio area (there's a bar out there). He was there a while with some other guys and approached these two women, obviously trying to pick them up. I overheard one of them ask, "So, do you drive that truck because you're a douche bag or because you just want people to think you're a douche bag? Because if it's the latter, it's working." Funniest thing I heard in a while.

I worked in a fast food restaurant for a summer when I was in high school. It was enough to make me never eat certain foods at fast food restaurants ever again. Some of what we got away with was seriously gross.

I know a "I don't eat vegetables" adult too. He's annoying beyond words. He basically eats four or five things: cold cereal with milk, steak sandwiches, pizza and burgers. And his filler foods are Doritos and candy and beer. He's a friend of a friend so it's not like I have to be around him all the time and truly, I don't care what kind of garbage an adult wants to fill their body with but what I DO care about is he makes fun of anyone who does eat healthy. We were out at a birthday party in a restaurant once and he's making fun of the people who ordered salads. I once had the audacity to offer him some fruit at my house and he barked "What the fuck do I look like, a monkey?". He's just rude and childish and dickish.

Turkey - lovely restaurant with kitchen next to rest room. No screen doors. No screens on windows. Toilets are holes in floor in cubicles with shower curtain for privacy. Many flies and bugs. Flies migrate from kitchen to toilets to dining room. Bad dysentery. China near Souzhou - hospital. Latrine in a long building outside with open door, no real door, no screen or glass on door or windows.. Toilet is open concrete trench spanning about 8 cubicles, no doors or curtain. Straddle trench to do your business. It just sits there, no way to flush. Whenever someone thinks of it (not often), they squirt hose into trench to wash the stuff toward the drain. Flies everywhere. China - Beijing, parents pull kids pants aside, open crotch, sh$$ in gutter. Philippines - toilet in private home ceramic-lined drain in floor. No paper. You use hose to wash yourself, when there is water. Thailand market - no cubicles, just ceramic squat toilets, no paper, water hose broken. Flies breeding.

The fact that so many people think this way is exactly what is wrong with America. We have just as many flies and rats in restaurants here as anywhere, OP. The amount of racism and xenophobia in this post just makes me sad.

I don't care if other countries like us. Western civilization is a great improvement over other civilizations. Ever been to a third world country's rest room? I've been to many. Much to be disgusted about. Watched Muslims in their countries stone a woman for adultery? Push gays off tall rooftops to their deaths for being gay? I can't honor or respect civilizations who do those things or supposedly educated folks who see nothing wrong with flies from their open hole toilets landing on the restaurant food they're about to eat.

Well, that's what placement tests like the ACT and SAT are for--determining students' ability in addition to their grades. Some kids, like my DH, did crappy in high school grade-wise because they don't care, but do well on ACT or SAT tests. Yes, those kids should be allowed to go to college. But if a kid gets a 19 or 20 on the ACT, maybe they don't need a 4 year degree, especially if they end up paying $20K for a year or two of a 4 year degree and end up dropping out because it's just too much for them. What's so bad about getting a 2 year degree and having a specialized job? My dad never went to a 4 year program and has a great job. My brother has a 2 year degree and owns a restaurant. Why does our country put this stigma on "only" having a 2 year degree? With all the content out there on the internet, you can learn about anything you want without paying for a class on Literature or Economics or Introductory Geology.