Those were the words I heard this morning. First thing through the front door of HyVee (that's a grocery store, for the non-Iowans in the crowd ;) )...all I want is to get my groceries, and I have to be confronted with ignorance.
What prompted their outburst? I had the nerve to make use of one of the motorized carts that the store provides. This is one of perhaps 5 times that I have ever done so, in any store. I have two good legs, and even if they are hurting (or my back/feet/whatever), I refuse to ride a cart when I can walk or even limp. I do not believe that being obese is a good excuse to be on disability, get a special parking permit, or use a motorized cart. I know, that's probably not going to go over well with some people, but FOR ME, that's how I feel.
I know what that person was thinking when they made their rude remark. They looked at me, saw my size, and assumed that I was just too lazy to walk through the store. The problem with that is - as it is with most assumptions - they were wrong. Could not have been more wrong. I took that cart because my toe is broken. It is swollen and painful and I'm really supposed to be sitting home with it elevated - but life goes on despite my broken toe (and nagging hip injury), and errands wait for no man. But they didn't know that. They don't know that I was there to buy healthy foods so I can get back to making good choices again. They don't know that I'm easing back into walking - again hampered by the broken toe and hip injury. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got, and shaming doesn't help anyone.
For some reason lately, there has been much discussion of fat people using scooters, fat people jacking up health care costs, basically fat people being the reason why we can't have nice things. And I'm tired of it. On one hand, I realize that yes, people are entitled to their opinions, and that if I don't like it I should lose weight. But on the other hand...maybe I'm entitled to a certain amount of dignity and being left the hell alone simply because I'm a fellow human being.
It's easy to look at a fat person on a scooter and make a snap judgment. But I will say this: LAZY people are lazy. Not fat people, not white/black/Mexican/whatever people...LAZY people. They do not want to put forth any effort. They wouldn't put forth effort if they were thinner/taller/a different color.
As a fat person who is seen annually for checkups, I can tell you that my health is no worse than (and in fact, it's sometimes better than) most people who are at a healthy weight. I see the doctor once a year - oh, except for that time when I had mono, strep throat, and a secondary bacterial infection in my mouth all at the same time...but my doctor assures me that wasn't because of my weight. ;) I don't smoke or drink or take drugs, I eat plenty of fruits and veggies and drink water and my cholesterol is really good. I'm not the one jacking up your health insurance rates, sorry.
A little compassion would go a LONG way. Don't pretend to know what someone else is going through, unless you actually ask them and know for sure what the situation is, you have no way of being informed enough to make a judgment. It really isn't hard to be kind and compassionate. It's much easier than being mean and nasty and judgmental.
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