Monday, August 25, 2008

Went to Tucker Tom's for a stash of treasures from the earth, including tomatoes, peaches, broccoli, and more blueberries. The Jerseys are long gone, so these are from Michigan, but any port in a storm...
Am lunching with Marge today. Am toying with the idea of going to SeaOaks for their fabulous Cobb salad, but it's pretty much calorie-laden and a Caesar would be okay.
Attended Sunday at the Opera yesterday at our clubhouse and a neighbor/slight acquaintance went into the "wow, you're thin, but don't lose any more" routine. Why IS IT that people believe they have the authority and knowledge to tell you that? I'm not sure if they think it's a compliment or if they see the face that--let's face it (heh, heh)--is now heavily lined what with the fat under it gone, in which case, it's an insult, it seems to me. As I always do (well, I never claimed not to be bitchy), I asked this person just how much weight I was "supposed" to lose. Of course, she didn't know and couldn't answer when I asked her to tell me why she thought I had lost "enough."
Here's my take on this: People have been encouraged too damn much to let it all hang out, express themselves, say whatever comes into their heads, and so on. Therefore, they think nothing of giving unsolicited advice, back-handed compliments, and downright insults when somebody has lost a lot. My favorite outrageous weight-loss one is, "Have you been sick?," for which I'd like to come back with "Have you been well? You sure are fat."
Geesh, if somebody loses a lot, he or she either has a wasting disease or did it on purpose at considerable cost in time, effort, and determination. So observers should say, "Wow! You look fabulous!" or shut their pie holes.

2 comments:

iloveac said...

I remember similar expressions growing up..."when are you going to stop growing?"...like I knew or could do anything about it. OR..."how tall are you?" Did they like to hear me say an unusual number? Yes, people are insensitive unless they've had a similar experience.
I don't get angry...I just consider them one of the ignoramuses of the world. Yes, they may not mean insult ..i.e. don't lost any more wgt...but they should have learned by now that a person's wgt is too personal on which to make a comment.
Besides being unusually tall I was skinny for a long time and heard comments about that as well...now I'm too fat and I hear comments albeit jokingly about that....I always say...somewhere in-between skinny and fat I must have been 'perfect' for all of 20 minutes. LOL.

Mimi said...

It seems particularly mean to remark on a girl's height. One of the unfair things in the world is that boys and men are "supposed" to be tall, but not so much women. Personally, I would love to be taller (statuesque), but am sure I'll never top my 5' 3."

Thursday

Well, it started off nicely, but things got murky later. R.E. agent Kim emailed me the Certificate of  Occupancy, which means the house pass...