I don't have a problem with people wanting to advocate that the human race comes in lots of different sizes. I don't think that someone is less of a human being because they're fat and I think that wanting to support that isn't a bad thing.
I have rather more of an issue in how they dealt with this. Whilst I'm overweight I too can comfortably sit in an airline seat and do my seatbelt up too but should I get to the point where I can't, I'd much rather someone told me up front rather than waited until I got on the plane...
I wasn't suggesting that people are less of a human being for being large nor was I suggesting that an organization like NAAFA shouldn't look out for discriminatory practices.
The problem is that an organization like NAAFA seems to play the discrimination card as much as Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson play the race card then expect the moon when they find a horse to hitch their agenda-wagon to.
I mean really...comparing Kevin Smith to Rosa Parks (even though she was asked that question by the dipshit reporter) is just plain stupid. If she had answered that question with something like "Y'know, there's really no comparison given the eras", I probably wouldn't have been as pissed off.
Well, maybe I would have cause of the other stuff that she thinks companies should do to enable bad behavior, but that's beside the point...
The Rosa Parks comment is what got me fired up the most.
Teaching people to embrace "fat acceptance" is a ludicrous idea as well. I stated before...if you have a legit medical reason (or even genetic...which can be medical), you get a pass. You're not the target of the rant.
Organizations like NAAFA exist to make money and push an extreme agenda. Instead of actually addressing why people are fat, they want to make sure everyone just accepts people that are. I could care less if someone is fat, but if that fat is going to invade someone else's space or require you to spend more money because, well, there's more of you, then that's what NAAFA needs to be pushing. They need to be talking to their own memberbase and training them to accept the consequences of their own size rather than trying to get companies like Southwest to change their policies and spend more money so that most people can continue living lives they CHOOSE to live. Those policies are there for a reason and I'm 99.9% certain they weren't created because the person writing them hates fat people.
(Anyone catch the emphasis there on the word "choose"?)
Fat people don't have to choose an airliner to fly. Get in a car and drive yourself. But that's why most people are fat to begin with right?
Let me tell a story.
When I originally opened my business, I opened up next door to a Big & Tall store. The building we were in had 8 parking spaces out front that were split between my store and the Big & Tall store. About a year after I opened (in 2002), I was staring out the front windows on a rather slow night when I see this old car pull up and triple park across my spaces.
I was slightly irritated at that.
I was even more irritated when a guy about an inch shorter than me and at least 350lbs gets out of the car and goes into the shop next door.
So I went outside and waited for him to come out. The following conversation ensued:
Q: Hey, next time you go shopping in there, you mind triple-parking in the spaces that belong to the store you're shopping in?
Fat Guy: Doesn't look like you're busy.
Q: That's beside the point. Those spaces were empty too.
Fat Guy: F*** off.
(gives me the bird and starts back towards his car)
So as a 22 year old, rather immature man...you can probably guess what happened next.
Q: If I see your car in my spots again, I will have you towed.
(another middle finger)
Q: Hey, did you ever wonder why you have to shop in that store to begin with?
(now I've got his attention)
Q: Perhaps it's because you're too f***ing lazy to walk the extra 6' from the correct parking spaces?
It was go time now. That guy unloaded this obscenity-laden tirade that I barely understood because I was rather mesmerized by the sheer amount of fluid coming out of his mouth while he was yelling at me. I know he asked "Are you saying I'm fat" and "Come down here and say that to my face" a couple times, but that's about all I remember.
Nothing else of note really happened during that exchange. After he got finished, he gets in his car and peels out of the parking lot.
The next day, the manager of the Big & Tall store comes over. She's one of the nicest ladies I know (and is still a customer of mine). She asks me about the exchange. Apparently, the guy called her up and complained about me and, at the time, they had this "Good Neighbor Policy" that required management of the various stores to observe the "sensitive nature" of their client base.
She had to come over to fill out the report to file.
Chew on that for a bit. I get that this guy was probably in a minority. Hell I don't even know if his condition was medically-related. I just know that he acted like an asshole and got treated like an asshole. That aside, this is the sort of garbage an organization like NAAFA promotes.
Y'see. For most people, "Fat" is a choice. You make a bad choice, you pay the consequences. "Fat" is a medically/scientifically proven BAD CHOICE. NAAFA would have you believe there should be no consequences for being fat. Widen the doors and seats or boycott the company fat people! Does that mean people should go out of their way to make fat people feel horrible about their size? No, it doesn't, but it does mean that fat people have to understand the consequences of their choice to be fat.
If you're fat...
- You're at a higher risk for health issues.
- You're probably paying more to fuel that car of yours.
- You have to pay more for clothing since there's more clothing to begin with.
- You have to pay more for food since you more than likely take down more food.
- Your size is invading personal space in places like aircrafts, theaters, carnival rides or various other events with close-quarter seating.
But hey, where's NAAFA's policy on Wal-Mart charging more for XXL clothing than L or XL? Where's NAAFA's policy on McDonald's charging more for super-sizing? Don't I get a couple extra hot apple pies because I'm overweight? Why isn't NAAFA going after the auto-industry to make cars that are more fuel-efficient when a scale in the driver's seat detects more than a certain weight?
That's exactly the sort of logic used in NAAFA calling for the boycott on Southwest and demanding airliners to widen their seats.
Back to Southwest and Kevin Smith a minute...
Southwest could have handled that situation a lot better and I get why he's pissed. That's not saying I necessarily agree with everything he's done after the fact, but I still get it. Kevin Smith calling for a boycott of Southwest is one thing.
NAAFA calling for a boycott is just stupid. NAAFA calling for airliners to "widen their seats" is stupid. NAAFA stating that it's wrong for airliners to force people to pay for multiple seats when those fit in one seat is stupid. If I were Southwest, I'd take a few notes from Six Flags, Universal Studios or the Disney parks...
Put up a sign at the door:
"If you don't fit between these lines, you don't get to fly."
At least then, the passenger isn't seated and forcibly removed from the flight.
Get your f***ing priorities straight NAAFA. Focus on finding ways to get people with legit reasons for being overweight the care they need from various companies. When you force a company like Southwest to accommodate bad choices, the costs get passed onto everyone else and personally, if I'm going to be paying for a bad choice, I'd rather it be my own.
Wow Q, you seem pretty worked up over all this...
ReplyDeleteI am. I hate organizations like this and I hate the media that gives them a voice to push their agendas. The true issues of our time will separate themselves from the fluff issues (which is what this is), but the bottom line with organizations such as these is that they're pretty much saying "It's ok to blame everyone else for your issues and avoid taking responsibility for your own actions." all while some figurehead or three who do nothing but sit and look for issues like this to push their agenda benefit from all of the donations made by stupid people.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I haven't seen much beyond what CNN had on the issue (and 99% of that was KS ranting), so it might make you feel better that NAAFA hasn't been very good at getting their message out, most likely because they are fat lazy bastards.
ReplyDeleteAlso, maybe you should watch "Idiocracy" to better understand where we are going as a society :D
The way overweight people are treated is not a fluff issue. As a Fat person I can tell you that the laughing (not even behind my back) and the insults do NOTHING to make me feel better or motivate me to lose weight. Its hard to fit in anywhere, I never feel comfortable in a public setting and have deal with depression. When I go out I try to make everyone I come into contact with happy, Im extra courteous and mindful of what im doing and still no matter what I do I am insulted about the weight.
ReplyDeleteTake what Drakus' said there, instead of leaving it at "... so it might make you feel better that NAAFA hasn't been very good at getting their message out" he had to add the fat lazy bastards part. Could of said something like, perhaps because there isnt a lot of sympathy for their cause, or something along those lines.
The guy that triple parked was an asshole for sure, but he didnt triple park because he was fat... why did you feel the need to call him out on that?
Youre fired up because of this NAAFA or w/e but a lot of what you posted is just generally insulting and hateful to fat people... and saying something like this doesnt apply to fat people with medical conditions doesnt put you in a different light or make what your saying any more comforting.
Lemme try
I hate fucking hate asshole black people GOD DAMMIT!!! I mean I dont hate the ones that dont commit crimes, but the rest can all burn in a fire.
hmmmmmm didnt work for me either :(
I'm fat too, but you know what?
ReplyDeleteI own up to the fact that I'm fat because of my own choices and I don't expect preferential treatment. I wasn't stating that fat people are bad nor was I trying to insult them. I was insulting NAAFA and their ideals.
I give a rat's ass about someone's weight, but when someone wants to use their weight as a reason for special treatment, that's where I draw the line. Ultimately, most weight issues are the results of choices you made and I'm not happy paying for your poor decisions. I don't expect people to pay for mine.
As for your own personal motivation? Your emotions should be enough to motivation, but you're apparently not taking advantage of that. As harsh as this reality is...
...that's your choice.
As for why I went where I did with the guy in the story, the line "As a 22 year old, rather immature man" should be explanation enough. I'm 10 years older now. Would I say the same thing in the same situation? No, likely not, but that wasn't the point of the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to act like I'm a motivational speaker or that I'm shining some huge spotlight on an issue that's never had one on it before, but when it comes down to it, are fat jokes really any different than racial/ethnic jokes? Are they really any different than birth mark/defect jokes? Are they really any different than retard jokes?
Yes, they are. Because fat people, the vast majority of the time, can do something about it but usually choose instead to just continue doing what made them fat to begin with and whine about how it hurts their feelings when someone makes a joke about their weight. If you're depressed, go see a counselor, get that fixed and then start the process of losing weight.
I watched my sister drop 60+lbs in a year by running 30 mins on a treadmill 3 times/week and changing her diet up slightly. Choices.