Living in urban Northern Virginia (NoVa), I had a similar culture-shock when I moved to NortheEastern North Carolina, a very rural area. All of my coworkers and

Living in urban Northern Virginia (NoVa), I had a similar culture-shock when I moved to NortheEastern North Carolina, a very rural area. All of my coworkers and neighbors were obese, I quickly became known around town as the weird guy who walked everywhere, and at restaurants my friends would make fun of me for eating salads while taking pride in showing off how much food they could eat at one sitting. I once made the mistake of making a critical comment about McDonald's and was accused of "pushing a liberal agenda." Back in NoVa years later, and the mindset down there still baffles me. Heart disease and diabetes are just kind of accepted as inevitable natural outcomes of aging, and are not seen as the consequences of overindulgence.