Typical Continental Breakfast Fare Unfairly Ignores Basic Health Needs

Sweet stuff leaves a bitter impression. We Baby Boomers listen to a different drummer.

Courtesy: foodiesxpress.com

(LINCOLN CITY, OR) - Recently my wife and I had to escape a horrible heatwave. It wasn't a bit pleasant. As retirees, we were free to take off midweek and headed to Lincoln City and vicinity. All of the places we approached offered us continental breakfasts. Not a great attraction for us older folks.

Lincoln City: known for its dramatic views. Salem-News.com photo by Bonnie King

Continental breakfast items like pastry and muffins may be cheap for the motel but runs against the needs of us older folks. She happens to be an early diabetic and I plead guilty as somewhat stout and overweight. We much prefer nutritious food like cold cereal and fresh fruit. I really wish motels would wake up and get sensitive because you are chasing away customers by giving us few healthy items. With the national Center for Diseases in Atlanta issuing stats that warn Americans that diabetes and heart disease are reaching epidemic levels and treatment is draining badly-needed Medicare dollars from the US Treasury, why be an accomplice to encouraging illness? It is anything but fair! Sweet stuff leaves a bitter impression. We Baby Boomers listen to a different drummer.

Salem-News.com Community Writer Barry Lee Coyne brings to our readers stories from his combined career of journalism and gerontology, and explains that these paths shaped his values. Lee Coyne once worked for The Civil Service Leader in NY State and covered the Legislature. He has also done features on mediation and arbitration, and believes in healthy skepticism. This writer-therapist often views the world as the masks of comedy and tragedy placed upon the scales of justice. For him, optimism inevitably wins. "Lyrical Lee" has traveled to 30 nations aboard and was once a press intern at the UN. His first published article was in The NY Daily News in '59, dealing with the need for integrity in public office.

He also launched the nation's first tele-conference on health education for shut-ins, created the Eldermentors project in VA to pair retirees with immigrant students needing role models, and was the main catalyst behind CCTV's "Public Public" panel show here in Salem. Lee received his BA in International Relations and an MSW in community organization. He currently serves as a member of Salem's Library Advisory Board. To send Lee an email, please write to this address: luckycoyne@yahoo.com