John frowned as his eldest son, a 23 year old who is coming dangerously close to being overweight, took yet another slice of raw meat and placed it in the pot to cook. 

“You ate enough meat today. No more.” 

Of course, as he always does, his son nodded a few times but would mostly ignore him. 

“You’re going to get a big belly if you keep eating that much meat”

This time, it was his younger son who replied: 

“What Tim eats is none of your business. He’s an adult, he can make his own decisions about what he eats”

“I’m worried about his health. He’s going to have health problems if he gains too much weight”

“Then that’s on him. It’s not your responsibility to make sure your adult son is dieting properly”

John sighed, plucked a piece of fried tofu from the hot pot with his chopsticks, then slowly leaned back on his chair as he chewed. Every Saturday, every time the family came together for hot pot, his eldest son would always eat excessive amounts of red meat. Most of the time, when John would tell him to restrain himself for the sake of his health, his younger son would counter with that same argument. 

Both John and his youngest son shot glances at John’s wife, who was curiously absent from this discussion as she munched on baked corn. Normally, during normal discussions, his wife would be the first to remind his eldest son to watch his weight, or insist that he eat more healthily. Even his younger son would encourage his older brother to diversify his diet, despite arguing that his older brother’s weight was in a healthy range. 

After realizing he had no support from the rest of the family, John gave up for the day and finished the rest of the meal without reapproaching the topic. While conversing with his wife, he noted that his eldest son would continue eating meat and finished with a whole serving of udon noodles, without a single vegetable entering his body. 

Eventually, John carefully stood up from the wooden oval table, using his arms and hands as support, and proceeded to walk to the living room, leaving his youngest son and wife, the slowest eaters, to finish their meals. After his wife joined him in the living room 20 minutes later, John would forget his worries about his son’s weight.