Laurie and Debbie say:

Not only doctors, but diet groups, advertising producers, and casting directors everywhere are smugly taking credit for your transit delays.

Asim Nelson, a [New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority] emergency medical technician, told the paper that fainting dieters topped the “sick customer” list. … Although the agency doesn’t keep an official record of the nature of each rider’s illness, the [Metro] said that an average 395 delays each month are caused by sick customers.

A spokesperson for the American Medical Association (might have) said: “We’re especially pleased that so many New Yorkers are taking our advice, and protecting their health. We think that approximately ten delays a day is a good start; our goal, however, is at least 100 delays a day. We also need good data from other cities to make sure we’re on the right track (so to speak). After all, it isn’t only a sign that more people are dieting; each delay keeps everyone else on the train away from food just a little while longer.”

In the meantime, a spokesperson from the transit authority (might have) said, “We’re seriously considering taking a leaf from Victorian England and installing ‘fainting couches’ in the last car of each train.”

So remember, all you have to do to ensure a safe and healthy transit trip, inside or outside New York, is just not eat.

Thanks to Betty Rose for the link.

feminism, dieting, fat, body image, size acceptance, transit, New York City, Body Impolitic