I’ve ranted a few times over the years about people trying to hold fast food establishments liable for making them fat. I thought that craziness had faded after Super Size Me disappeared from public consciousness. And it mostly has.

And then a friend sent me a link to House Bill 282, introduced in the Mississippi Legislature. The title:

AN ACT TO PROHIBIT CERTAIN FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FROM SERVING FOOD TO ANY PERSON WHO IS OBESE, BASED ON CRITERIA PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO PREPARE WRITTEN MATERIALS THAT DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN THE CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A PERSON IS OBESE AND TO PROVIDE THOSE MATERIALS TO THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS; TO DIRECT THE DEPARTMENT TO MONITOR THE FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

Full text (pdf). Full text (text).

Maybe I should get a patent on that fictional Body Mass Index calculator thing hooked to the cash register (see the linked rant, above). They’d definitely need something like that if they want to use objective criteria to determine if somebody is obese.

We’re fortunate that this bill was killed in committee, but I’m very disappointed that the thing was actually written and submitted to the Legislature. Imagine if it were passed: “I’m sorry, Sir, but according to State Law, you’re too fat to eat here.” Somehow, I just can’t see that happening. I hope I’m right this time.