I am sure anyone who has read my articles would think I would be the last person on earth who would want to defend Carl Rove, but I must. A couple weeks ago I was listening to the radio and the discussion was on… How would congress be able to get Carl Rove to testify concerning the Gonzales scandal? One of the persons on the air said that all you’d have to do to get Rove to the floor of the Senate would be to tie a string to a biscuit and drag it through the White House. So I suppose the way they got Gonzales to testify was to promise free Tequila and tacos. Of course that would be inappropriate, rude, and politically incorrect, as it should be. But why did those radio guys get away with what they said about Rove? Because if you’re overweight in America it’s ok to be insulted, berated, and caricaturized. The only other groups I found where such attitudes are tolerated are groups like child molester’s, Arab terrorists, and Nazi’s.
Being a person living with the curse of obesity, It feels like society hates us. Why else would so many so-called compassionate folks remain silent on the issue. In fact, the issue barely ever comes up at all. I had a guy right here at Gather say “if a person is fat, then I’m going to call them fat.” So, to that guy and to everyone else.
“I AM NOT FAT.”
I am a human being, not 330 pounds of fat cells. I have dreams, yearnings, and desires just like everyone else. I also have a mind and feelings. So, if you think I’m being childish about being so upset about this, ask a black person how it feels to have a white man call them the “N“ word.
So why do so many otherwise “good” people continue to be so cruel to the overweight? And this is where it gets weird because it’s the same reason for prejudice against any other “different” group. It’s because we’ve been dehumanized through stereotyping. “Fat people are lazy, dirty, stupid, and bereft of self-discipline or willpower.” I can remember the same exact things being said about Blacks, Hispanics, Jews, and any other group that has been deemed “different.” But just like those groups, these things are no more true of the overweight than they were for them. The difference is that being overweight is seen as a self induced condition. And to be fair, for most overweight people that is true. But for a lot of us it is not.
My problem started with puberty. I was considered normal size until I turned 11. By the time I was 18 I was about 50 pounds overweight. After two decades of failed attempts at dieting, I weighed in at 380 pounds. I got turned on to Fen-Phen in 1995 and lost 80 pounds without any side effects and was well on my way to a normal size at last. But a bunch of wealthy folks wanting to lose 10 or 15 pounds demanded the drug combination, and because their metabolisms were normal it caused some pretty serious problems for them and it was banned by the FDA. Fen-Phen had the effect of speeding up the metabolism of persons whose metabolic systems operate dysfunctionally slow. So for us it was a bona fide miracle. It’s maddening to me that we were robbed of this miracle.
My point is that when an overweight person walks down the street, no one knows how or why they might have gained so much weight. You can be sure it wasn’t their idea. So I make this call, no demand, for everyone to stop it. Stop calling us “fat” and stop discriminating against us. I can’t count the number of jobs I didn’t get, and once I found one, the promotions I didn’t receive. I can’t even go enjoy myself at a restaurant without someone giving me the hairy eyeball for being guilty of an EWF, (eating while fat.) I’ve actually heard them whispering, “how can he just sit there eating ALL that food.” And this was while they were heading to the buffet for the third time. “I wonder if he knows how fat he is?” And these are often the same folks who would scream bloody murder if they heard anyone make the same kind of comments about other minorities.
Grow up America, prejudice is prejudice no matter who it is spewed at.
************************
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published every Tuesday and Thursday to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
You can find all of Devin’s columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright
You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: http://kiwina58.gather.com and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.
You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.
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Comments: 76
Your comments are unworthy of response. To the rest of you, thank you for your kind words.
I think we have language issues. I've got friends who insist they ARE "fat" but not "overweight" because fat is a fact while overweight is a comparative judgment.
Also, it's not really only acceptable to bash large folk. Try being female. The misogyny is so pervasive it's invisible to many people because it's just how things are. (or gay...people will call you evil and say their god wants you to die, to your face!)
There are many hard working, exceptionally active people who, due to metabolic disorders, are considered fat by society's standards!
On the other hand, we do have a serious problem with obesity in the U.S. as evidenced by the number of children being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes (formerly known as Adult onset Diabetes). The fast food culture and our propencity for pre packaged or restaurant meals has contributed to the ever growing problem (pun intended!)!
The bottom line though is that discrimination against people who are considered "fat" is present and often encourage by commercials for weight loss pills and the increasing number of 'Diet' articles in almost every popular magazine, and periodical. Just look at the number of 'lose weight quickly and easily' adds there are on your travels through the internet.
Great and timely piece. I too have experienced discrimination because I am a person of weight. However, I have combated the stereotype most of my life by being active, making fun of myself before others have the opportunity and generally being a smart ass whenever I face those morons who would consider weight above intellect and wit. I am fat. Plain and simple. Yes, folks I DO own a mirror. I am also smart, sexy, vital and healthy. Those who think less of me because I am not a size 2 and puke after every meal, aren't worth the calories expended defending myself.
Yes, I am fat. As my grandmother once stlapped me upside the head for staring at a man with severe acne because "He knows what he looks like", so to do I have two eyes and am able to use a mirror. In fact, if I ever overhear any comments like the ones you have, I make sure to look the commenter straight in the eye and say "No sh**, Skippy - what was your first clue??", then laugh at them and point. In general, they tend to get very red-faced and leave.
I did not mean to imply that "all" size 2's are bulemic. Believe me, I would be the last person to make fun of a person with a disease. Just read my articles. I was making a point. My point was, those people are more socially accepted in society than the overweight.
NB,
I can never tell if you are serious or sarcastic If you were serious, I think I'm in love...(Lets not tell Bill, shall we?)
If you were being sarcastic, for the record, both my kids are of "normal" weight, and I don't encourage my patients to stray from their prescribed diets.
Just so you know a little more about this Nepoleon Blownapart character, here's a quote from a comment he posted to this article and then deleted it.
"your attitude is anti-semitic (Arabs are Semitic) and you ARE TOO FAT, fatso."
To the rest of you,
Thank you very much for your insightful and heartfelt comments. It's an issue than doesn't get very much attention, but when you consider the blatant exploitation by flim flam diet product companies, being ignored by the medical community, and openly insulted and berated by media celebrities and society in general, it's amazing how passive people of weight are.
I think some of the things you've said are stupid, but I don't equate that to mean YOU are stupid. In the same way, just because I'm over weight does not mean I'm FAT. It's hurtful and ignorant to think it's OK to call someone names in this way. If I said just Arabs I might be able to see your point, but if you think Arab "terrorists" or any other terrorists are deserving of any consideration at all, I'd have to wonder where your priorities are. To conclude that I am an anti semite because I wrote Arab terrorist is a pretty big leap. My point was that it's very hurtful when I see people insult and berate people of weight and its made to seem as legitimate as insulting the most despicable people alive. But, I'm wasting my breath with you because you just don't get it.
I'm overweight too, and it's not like I went to sleep and woke up and said, "Geez, I'd like to be 100 pounds overweight, I think I'll just eat and eat and eat." No one ever does that.
For many people fat happens. It can be our own fault for overeating, it can be genetic, it can happen in times of stress, it can happen in times of joy...
But instead of worrying about numbers on a scale, people should concentrate on overall health. Despite my weight, this week I climbed a mountain while on vacation in Nevada. So, the hell with what a bunch of strangers think. I'm happy, I feel good, if I don't conform to a fashion plate, my response? "Oh well."
Thanks again for a great, thought provoking article.
As many people here know, I have celiac disease, which affects the weight of most of its sufferers (most of us tend to be severely underweight as I am, although some celiacs gain weight that just can't be shed from it) -- and I loathe people being nasty to me because they assume that I (a) choose to look the way I do and (b) somehow think I'm better than other people for it. I'm a huge snob, and I think I'm better than a lot of people for a lot of reasons, but size will never, ever be one of them.
As research has come to show that tobacco is one of the most lethal addictions----and so smokers are not "stupid" or "weak" as they were assumed to be by society once smoking became "unfashionable"-----the weight issue has exploded into a generational one.
Baby boomers, once thought to be the generation who would redefine age as we know it, are less healthy than their parents. Much of the cause is attributed to weight issues.
Researchers have to find out what makes people gain weight in ways they cannot control.
There must be one or more biological components to unexplained weight problems that have not yet been found, beyond the basic metabolic one. Maybesoon research will be able to explain weight problems as clearly as studies now can explain tobacco addictions.
In the meantime, all of you who have your heads on straight about managing public prejudice deserve a cheer.
The casualness of the cruelty is what is so hard to comprehend. Great piece!
I do, and thank you for your explanation.
The causes of weight problems are numerous and complicated and the medical community has been painfully slow to give it the attention it deserves. Your comparison to smokers reminds me of a joke I used to tell on stage. Trying to lose weight by dieting is like being an alcoholic trying to quit drinking while still having to drink just one beer for breakfast, and a martini (but no more than that) for dinner to stay alive!
My wife's grandfather even had the nerve to ask me point blank if I could even put my arms around my wife. He asked me this in front of her in an attempt to embarrass her into losing weight. I simply replied that yes, indeed I could and then turned away from him. My own grandfather has offered me $1 for each pound I would lose.
Even the "esteemed" Dr. Phil is of the opinion that overweight people are so by choice only. No criticism of his statement was made, no public outrage at his condemnation of an entire group of people, and no demands for an apology were made.
Movies like Eddie Murphy's Nutty Professor movies, or his newest one, or Shallow Hal portray overweight people as constantly eating. For most of us this is far from true. When I order a regular meal, people always ask if I'm ready for more. Even at all-you-can-eat buffets I usually go for seconds at most. No matter how sensibly I eat, I don't lose more than a few pounds. Without extreme, unhealthy measures my weight isn't going to change much. And yet people feel it's perfectly okay to point out that I'm overweight, while they'd shudder at the thought of pointing out to a black person the color of their skin. Go figure. We are truly one of the last groups it's still Politically Acceptable to make fun of.
Isn't it apparent how deep the knife of predjudice cuts. I am sorry for the pain so many have taken. We all grow up facing situations of bias, (age, height, weight, race, income level, education level, attractiveness, to name a few.) We also end up looking at ourselves to decide if we are going to carry them or overcome them. As we have seen ourselves, a government can pass laws but it can't change a heart. We do that by how we treat each other and how we train our children. I appreciate the open exchange here.
You can explore, with a group who can get medical support, a review of the drug.
MS patients just went through an aggressive lobbying campaign to bring back a drug, which, in trial, gave many improvement beyond anything hoped for. A small number of patients had devastating problems and the drug was pulled. MS is such a difficult disease, any drug that works, if the patients taking it will sign a waver and if the manufacturer will put the black box warning on it, deserves a chance to be used. Informed consent about risks being key.
It sounds as if you should revisit the ban of the only medication which got your results-----with a group, with medical back-up and with manufacturer agreement.
This does not address the prejudice, which is your column topic, but your longing to have the medication back came through so powerfully, it is worth checking out.
CCBC
Different people reach metabolic equilibrium at different values of body mass index. Like most measures of the human body, there is a range that is considered normal, and there are specific disorders associated with being considerably above or below that range.
Ask doctors and nurses to consider the most costly patients they treat, then ask what factors contributed to that cost. I suspect most would cite obesity, smoking, and alcoholism -- in that order.
All three of these are direct consequences of voluntary acts of ingestion -- of food, tobacco smoke, or alcohol.
- Nicotine addiction is a tough habit to kick, so smokers used to got a little slack for that. Because of studies suggesting (involuntary) risks to others from second-hand smoke, there are fewer and fewer places smokers can light up.
- Alcohol abuse is so strongly stigmatized because of immediate, dire consequences to others from irresponsible behavior while impaired.
- Obesity, while possibly the largest of these contributing factors to health care costs, is probably the least understood. It's easy to glibly state that every ounce of a person got there somehow, and that "somehow" is perceived as a series of voluntary acts of consumption (no "second-hand calories").
Mean-spirited attitudes by others certainly doesn't help. On the other hand, defending obesity -- as if it were a purely personal choice that doesn't affect others -- that doesn't help, either.It is time for you to start your own public health information crusade.
Your style cuts through the noise around this.
Please seriously consider whether you can use your writing talents to make a difference on this.
Why does that go uncriticized?
As a height challenged guy I happen to admire Leggy ladies. But, as it usual, women don't give me a flying sh*t for me --- especially the taller ones!
Why is that type of prejudice OK ???
You compared race to overweight people and that is a false analagy. You are born to a race. You are not born fat! Unless....you're somehow fat which is probably extremely rare. However, i do know of a disease or illness that makes a person feel hungry all the time! It's pretty insane but the the percentage of people that have it is low so i feel sorry for them but not the fat people your talking about.
As for discrimination in the workplace and everywhere, that is going to take a long time for this to stop. Fat people are unhealthy. They don't live as long as a normal person. That is a fact that you and other fat people need to learn. Business will not hire a fat person over a good looking normal weight person because that normal person will last longer! I would bet that the normal person could work longer and more efficiantly than a fat person.
My question to you is this; do you like to be fat? If you dont want people to be cruel to you than change your diet! Change your lifestyle! Live healthy! Life is a challenge! There is almost never an easy win when there is a challenge. You have to try to be accepted in this world/society/country. Sure there have been laws that protect different people but people will still think badly at different people because it is natural to feel that way about something different.
I truly feel sorry for clueless folks like your self. "If it works for me, then it should work for everyone." Wow, only youth or intellectual sloth would allow for such a misinformed assumption. The fact my young friend is that I probably eat more healthy than you do.
Here is a fact that will interest you; Statistics have shown that as much as 90 percent of people who "successfully" meet their weight loss goals through a diet and exercise programs, gain it all back and more in less than two years. Think about that, 90 percent man. And that is THE most common treatment recommended by doctors. But what other medical treatment can you think of with a 90 percent failure rate that would be continued to be used. If 90 percent of say, heart bypass surgeries failed, they would not do them, would they. Of course not, so why is the most prescribed treatment for weight problems the one that is guaranteed to fail. It's because the medical community along with most of society thinks like you do. "If you just had a little will power and self discipline you'd lose weight." Sorry friend, but you don't know what you're talking about.
Three points:
When we continue to move further into the suburbs and exurbs and don't build sidewalks, and spend hours in the car, and more hours in front of the tube or the computer, we just set ourselves up to gain weight and or have a serious injury when we shovel our walk twice a year as our only activity.
Ross the intern, when asked what his work out regimen was on Celebrity Fit Club, replied, "I don't know, going to the fridge?". He is not fat at all, just merely 20-30 pounds overweight. His problem is his activity level and that he couldn't climb a flight of stairs without being winded.
America has the highest obese morbidity rate of any country on earth. That should tell you something. You are in danger regardless of your eating habits. Being young, you can eat the Big Mac with fries. It won't be until you're older that the things you've done to your body in youth come back to haunt you. So consider it every time you sit in the sun too long and damage your skin. Ten years from now, you will most likely have skin cancer. If you don't have cancer later, consider yourself lucky that you had the amount of melanin to protect you. This applies to people with different metabolic rates as well. Some are lucky while others are not.
Only within the last ten to fifteen years have we become educated concerning our own health. So, by the time you are middle aged, you will not have an excuse for your poor health problems that were preventable. That being said, you have no grounds for judging another, as you have on this article.
Devin, the only hope of losing weight for many people now is gastric bypass which is dangerous. Afterwards you face more surgery to rid your body of excess skin. Maintaining a healthy weight for yourself, may still be "fat" to some people, as society focuses on appearances only.
But as for us height challenged guys, well, the prejudice remains and there is nothing we can do about it.
My manager's fat must have been extremely hard to work with as well as just trying to get around her. My former manager also has diabetes because of her weight. At several times in my 6 hour shift she would take at least ten minutes in the bathroom shooting up her insulin so she can function normal. This led us to be even more short-handed than before.
Of course when she came back from her shot, she would make herself a whole personal pizza that was stacked with extra cheese, most of the meats and other toppings. Like I said before, this was several times in my six hour shift. Hopefully you are all intelligent enough to see how much of a burden her fatness was to me, my co-workers, customers and herself (not to mention she was such a bitch to everyone).
Fatness didnt help us at all at Pizza Hut and it hurt the restaurant considerably. According to one of the meetings that we had every month, our Pizza Hut was practically the worst restaurant of all New Jersey. I wonder why? There were other reasons but clearly we know one of them.
Im not saying that all fat people are like my former manager but I believe that she isnt the only one that is fat and doesnt try to lose the weight. Fat people that do try to lose the weight are NOT LAZY. My manager is LAZY. Im not going to be sympathetic to anyone that is overweight because they're fat for a reason and they control what goes in their mouth not their metabolism.
Sam,
I hope with all my heart that as you grow older, (YOU) get fat and lose your hair, you smug little punk. That manager you spoke of is a human being my friend. And if you had even the slightest bit of knowledge of diabetes you'd understand that people who deal with that horrible, cruel disease face a far more difficult circumstance than a young fortunate son like yourself could possibly fathom.
Your youth is showing.
Your hopes will become a false wish. I care very deeply about my health and my future and none of what you mentioned will come until I give it all up and that will come when I'm into my 70s and so on. When I go, I'll go down as a happy old man with many grandkids and hopefully some great-grand kids.
I do know that people with diabetes live a organized life because of my friends has it and he always has to keep juice by his side. IF you think living with diabetes is hard try thinking about people that live with HIV or AIDS! Those people are the ones that should be looked at the most because that will eventually kill you.
Even though HIV/AIDS isn't developed soley on weight, it's a little harder to live with than self-given diabetes. Before you try to bash me on my last statement I know that some types of diabetes is inherited. It's a shame for the ones that have to live with it but for the fat people that give it to themselves, I have no pity for them and never will. That's who I am. If you dont like, you dont like a lot of people because you live in a nation where free speech is allowed (most of the time) on tv, newspapers and so on. If you dont like, leave and live alone while trying to lose the extra weight. This is America! No one will tell me what I can and can't say! My constitutional rights will not be fixed just because of some fat people that don't like to be called what they are. So quit your jibber-jabber and leave.
I've been on this planet for going on fifty years and without exception, I have yet to meet a man or woman who didn't at some time in their adult life have life deal them a hand they never believed would be dealt to them. Case in point; high school friend of mine I'll call John was always making fun of mentally challenged people. Any time we would see one he'd laugh and make unkind comments and then laugh harder until he would belaughing so hard he couldn't breath. He was also the first one to berate the overweight girls and insult them and make them cry and laugh his ass off. Well, his second child was born with Downs Syndrome and like a lot of women, his wife gained a bit of weight after having their three children. What a difference thirty years makes. Today, if John saw a guy making fun of a mentally challenged person or an overweight person, that person would get their ass kicked. No kidding
I have a younger brother who when we were 20 and 21 was built like Tom Cruise only 6'2". Thick, dark brown hair, women literally flung themselves at him. Now we're 48 and 49 and he's about 35 pounds overweight (and finds it impossible to lose) and he suffers from male pattern baldness. Ha Ha Ha!!!
Actuall Sam, I truly hope you have a charmed, uneventful life, but don't count on it.
I have a friend that we call Furfy, he makes fun of retards a lot. He thinks he is funny but no one laughes at his messed up jokes. If I wasnt 18 i would beat the crap out of his sorry ass but i respect the law and dont want a record. I dont know how retards came into the picture anyways, i thought we were talking about fat people that get mad fun of.
As for your friend who chooses to denigrate slower people, you are doing a large injustice by not opening your mouth and expressing your disgust of him. Perhaps you feel you can do that here because we are not "real" to you. Trust me, we are just as real as your ignorant friend is.
Devin, I too was normal size until puberty, the hormones hit and that was the end of the thin me. I have tried too many things to be listed and I am fat.
I have had a lot of time in my 51 years to think and I have figured out that the people who are bigoted toward me and my fat usually have a really horrid life themselves and are merely picking on the most available target. I just have to remember that if anyone is a bible believing person, or karma person, that you reap what you sow in this world. Things you say and do to someone can come back and bite you in the butt when you least expect it. So many think that it is what they say that comes back, no it is some other retribution that is just for their particular situation.
This is why I almost never seek revenge, I don't have to. I sit back and watch the nasty person's life unravel with no help from me.
Bless you and your wife Devin.
I don't wish you any harm, Sam, but you need to be a little les "ME ME ME" and consider how your remarks and attitudes affect others because somewhere, at some point, there is going to be someone who is more than willing to show you the error of your ways and that lesson just might land you in a wheelchair too....and I suppose that won't be your fault either, will it? And as far as being judged, I'll go up against you any day, anywhere, and so will Judith.
Your telling me that by saying, retard, i make myself feel good? Your nuts! I would never want to be retarded. ok? I do know that retards live a very happy life. People with down-syndrom for example laugh and play all the time because they have no responsiblities. I wouldnt consider that a sad life would you?
So, along comes sam ammendolea. Here is a golden opportunity to communicate your perspectives from the receiving end of ridicule and discrimination, and expand the consciousness of this young man whose attitudes were negatively biased (by his own admission) by the example set by his former manager at Pizza Hut.
How effective have you been at correcting the misperceptions of youth and cultivating in sam greater respect for his fellow man? Review some of your comments:
- I'd rather have a fat body than a fat head! (Jeannie B.)
- ...being a smart ass whenever I face those morons who would consider weight above intellect and wit (Donna F.)
- I've learned to give the amount of attention to comments from the anorexic exactly the consideration they deserve. None. (Joan D.)
- I truly feel sorry for clueless folks like your self... I hope with all my heart that as you grow older, (YOU) get fat and lose your hair, you smug little punk. (Devin Barber)
- You are far more challenged than someone with a brain injury will ever be, and it's because you WANT to be. (Dee W.)
This is the wisdom of years speaking?Thanks for agreeing with my point. However, your condescending remarks concerning mine and others reaction to Sam is quite insulting. I've run into people like you before. I find that when a person tries to present themselves as having a superior wisdom and maturity is usually nothing more than an intellectual bully. I'm too old and I've seen far too much to ever allow my self to be punk'd friend. I stand by my words.
I wouldnt care about someones that didnt care about themselves because they would only think of themselves and not give a crap about what other people think. My mother is beautiful and will be as long as I help her out in staying pretty and slim. She knows that I care for her so she will stay slim and not give up on staying healthy like many fat people do.
Thomas, you're a smart dude. I wish there was more people like you in gather but everyone else that replies to Devin Barber's post sounds selfish and doesnt bother to listen to someone without fighting back.
I try to keep writers and their words separate, and meant no insult to any person. Devin sounds like he's already made up his mind about me personally ("I've run into people like you before") and even has a convenient label ("intellectual bully") to apply. Mr. Barber, how do you define "prejudice"? How do you define "stereotype"?
In all seriousness, I maintain that young sam ammendolea's comments provided a golden opportunity to focus on firsthand experience and facts -- to build understanding, consistent with the message of Devin's article. After citing the comment excerpts, my open question was whether you thought these were effective.
By providing "instant replays" in your own words, my hope was to stimulate this reflection: Did my comments contribute to better understanding, or did they only serve to reinforce stereotypes and intensify prejudices?
I don't know about the others, but YES, I speak from years of experience. My comment was made prior to Sam's arrival in the thread. I did not comment after, as I realize only Sam can change Sam's mind about the overweight, or the mentally challenged amongst us. I do not appreciate your including my lighthearted comment into any other context than that in which it was written.
From Miriam Webster: moron: a very stupid person.
A person may hold a dozen PhD's and still be a moron on any given topic.
Is that manager the only overweight person you've ever known? (I doubt it.) And if not, were all the heavy people you've ever encountered "bitches"? (I doubt that, too.) How, then, can you rationalize your prejudice by citing that one example? Have you never met a pleasant, kind, cheerful person who just happens to carry a few (or many) extra pounds? Why not focus your attitude towards the overweight on those people, rather than the one unpleasand example? Possible answer: "The bad stuff's easier to believe."
He can run and exercise all he wants - but when push comes to shove, I'd rather have someone working for me who can use his brain, rather than just another bigoted parrot who can't think for himself.
Dee, I was a very good. respectful worker and very respectful to anyone I come into contact outside the internet. She was a bitch. She doesnt need to give a reason to be a bitch because that is how she was to everyone no matter how much respect I gave her, she was always a bitch to me and others. Im no punk Sir. Dee. No I didnt just blow in and blow out fast! I worked my ass off for a crappy pay check. I worked at Pizza Hut for around 5 months and I held up a lot longer than any loser that walked in and walked out in just the first week! I held on because I needed the job you asshole. I was nice to everyone that came in and let me tell you, most of the time it doesnt matter how nice or polite you are towards some people because they wont change their attitude towards you. I got that part of the job and i couldnt take it because i felt like a slave to the filthy fat people that came in and barked orders at me and never said thank you Sam for the hard work, you must deal with a lot of shit in this place huh?" I never got that so shut up Dee.
As for the rest of you provincial-minded pricks, suck my balls. You judge to quick. You all think you know me just because a few words I typed into this site. Guess what I wont do, I wont change my feelings towards fat people because they are what they are;fat. For all you fat asses out there here's some advice, lose some weight and look presentable for people around you because YOU look disqusting.
Further, all "retards" do not have happy lives. They are singled out repeatedly for people who think like you to abuse physically, emotionally, and sexually. They are beaten, starved, neglected, and abused, and no one listens when they complain "because they're just retards". Are you aware of the fact that as soon as a woman of childbearing age who is developmentally disabled is institutionalized, either in a facility for the disabled or EVEN IN A NURSING HOME they are routinely immediately started on birth control? You can't say it's because they run around rubbing up against men, because if that were the issue they'd be on it already, wouldn't they? No, Sam. It's because they are afraid that the male patients OR THE MALE STAFF will take advantage of their lack of understanding of what is being done to them.
Additionally, there are literally thousands of documented incidents where the developmentally disabled are beaten, sometimes to death, tied to chairs for hours at a time, deprived of food and water and the chance to use a bathroom, and where staff members have actually watched, taken pictures, and taped as they forced patients to have intercourse with each other.
And when they complain, guess what the excuse for not believing them is? "They're just retards". "We can't find good staff." No one wants to work for what we can pay." And the old standby once again, "After all, they're just retards. How much harm can it do?"
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE A HAPPY LIFE TO YOU?????
A tip of the hat to those who carried on this discussion in a civil manner, most notably Jeannie B. A wag of the finger at those who didn't, most notably Cartman.
now, back to your regularly scheduled program D...
Devin - you got my 10 for this piece. It was right on the money, thoughtful, and true. Size does seem like one of the few things in our PC society where it's ok to not be PC. Not that I'm PC in the least, but Devin makes a great point when he says in a comment above:
> discrimination and prejudice is tolerated when its directed at fat people.
It's true. I've seen it myself many times. IMHO, no matter who you are or where you live discrimination and prejudice should NEVER be tolerated towards anyone based on how they look, walk, talk, etc.
I get tired of hearing everyone complain about being discriminated against grow up and quit wearing your feelings on your elbows.
If it hurts it must have a grain of truth at least in your own mind.