Thursday, April 29, 2010

Why Take The Stairs?


Explain the irony of this photo. What does this suggest about the health of Americans? Are we becoming lazier or more efficient?

8 comments:

Morbid Harbinger of Death said...

This photo brutally shows how the American society seemingly holds dear their fitness but in actuality clings to whatever they can to allow them their laziness. The people are entering into a GYM where they are going to WORK OUT, but are losing the opportunity to work out in every day life by taking the escalator instead of the stairs. Maybe if they took the stairs more often instead of taking the escalator, they wouldn't feel the need to pay a bajillion dollars to go to the gym. Just my opinion. I love this picture, by the way. Andrea, you are a genius for posting it : )

Sarah said...

Is it just me or does this picture make anyone else think of Idocracy? Obviously the irony in this picture is not only that 24hr-Fitness put an escalator in front of their gym but that people are actually using it instead of the stairs! Its as if they were thinking, well i'm about to go work out so I can be lazy until i get into the gym. This mindset is what makes our country one of the laziest and obese countries around! I also think that this picture is showing our countries dependence on technology. No one really walks anywhere anymore unless its really close, we all drive our cars. And you don't walk to your neighbors house to ask for a cup of sugar, you call them on the telephone because god forbid you walk the twenty steps to get there and find out that they don't have any sugar! This picture although hilarious, is also very sad because it perfectly represents the way our country is heading.

Keelan said...

Although it is true that in an earlier time it was socially acceptable be plump and lazy in times of a depression, it was a sign of fashion and wealth. However it seems that now such signs are less of an exception and more of a rule. America today is a very lazy place; people have become too accustomed to their ways and will not even consider what it is doing to them. Everyone constantly praises our wonderful technology; what they don't realize is what our technology is doing to us. As we depend more and more on gadgets to do things for us we lose ourselves to apathy and our personal interests completely forgetting the common good. When it becomes so easy to satisfy our wants we totally forget about those that actually need help. We drive a car two miles instead of taking a walk on a beautiful spring day, we do take-out and fast food instead of cooking a nutritious meal to save "valuable" seconds, and we can't figure out why the rate obesity is climbing. This laziness is apparent at all levels of society but it starts at the personal and individual level. Society tells us that we should do things as quickly and efficiently as we can; and people are always developing new ways to make things easier and more efficient for us all. Therefore as an individual grows he or she is always taught to do things as quickly and easily as possible. This unfortunately means that much work is cut out of the process. Having no hard work due to daily conveniences sets a dangerous precedent.
Things like this are the root cause of obesity in the U.S., not just the mindset but the way we live our daily lives.

Sam Hodde said...

This is blatantly ironic because of the people who are taking the escalator up one level, instead of the stairs, to get to their gym so they can work out. This suggests two things about the health of Americans, that while many do care about their physical fitness by wanting to go work out, they also view it as a singular thing and not a part of a fully healthy lifestyle. It is hard to tell just from this photo if we are becoming for efficient or lazier, because these people are going to work out, a very demanding activity, the opposite of lazy, but they are however taking the escalator, a sign of laziness, but also efficiency because it reduces the amount of work necessary. Again no clear decision either way on the last question.

the terrorist said...

this cartoon is showing the sad irony of the american people in which they are willing to spend a good amount of money on a place indoors where the can get the exercise they need but when it comes to simple tasks like climbing stairs the need an automated machine to help them. it also show how little people really relize that they are lazy if you need an escalater to help you enter a gym then you really need to step back at take a good look at yourself!

karleeklassen said...

The irony in the photo is pretty obvious. In front of a gym where your supposed to push yourself and work out, there are escalators leading up to the gym. And the funny thing is that people are using the escalators. This shows how lazy americans truly are. While we are becoming more efficient, we are becoming just as lazy. This picture is hilarious, and shows just how some of us are, I mean why go to a gym, if your not even going to walk up the stairs to get there?

Morena said...

This cartoon suggests that americans are trying to get in shape in the most efficient way possible. why take the stairs, whem theres a faster way to get there? Being efficient has its places in life, but this picture just portrays americans as being lazy people who cant even bring themselves to exert enough energy to take the stairs.

Rachel Templer said...

This cartoon blatantly shows how Americans while we are known for our gyms and working out.... we have gotten so lazy that we can't even walk up the stairs to go in for the workout. The gym and the escalator are perfectly opposite.