Don’t get me wrong. The fact that yet another hi-tech company is coming here and setting up shop is a good thing.
The Fitbit thing nearly caught me. It is a shiny gadget, and there are times when even I think my level of exercise might need a review. When those thoughts do cross my mind, I grab a pizza, ordered from an app on my smartphone as I sit in a big comfy seat.
The moment passes.
Back to Fitbit. As it’s a brand new company setting up here, they got a ministerial welcome. After the speeches, Mary Mitchell O’Connor got the customary tour of the building, a post-industrial house warming party, so to speak.
There were cameras everywhere snapping pictures, and that’s when I saw it. They have treadmills at desks. Maybe it was staged but think about it. Treadmills at your desk.
Image: RollingNews.ie
You are already employed and under contract to perform certain tasks. In return, you get paid. That seems a fair deal. Standing up and breaking into a sweat is not part of any contract I would sign. Why would you?
I think the reason for this is linked to an insane belief that our newfound sedentary lifestyles can be changed by frequent fat burning sorties.
It’s fitness fascism.
Normal exercise is frowned upon; we need to get with the programme. Work hard. Commute hard. Burn hard.
What’s wrong with a nature walk or a game of street football after tea?
Burn your fat but enjoy it, there's no need to make a song and dance out of it. Well, maybe there literally is. dancing is a great way to burn some calories.
Just be yourself. Oh, and don’t forget to buy your Fitbit.
