Pages

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Did you really just say that to me?

Location: gym locker room
Conversationalists: me and some old woman, probably in her 70s

Old lady: So do you play soccer, basketball, or volleyball?

Me: Actually, I am a runner.

Old lady: Really?  You don't look like one. 

Me: Oh.

Old lady: Runners are always skinny.  I once took a yoga class that was too advanced for me and the instructor was a runner and there was nothing to her.  But you....you've got some meat on your bones.  A lot of meat on your bones.

Me: Put hair in pony tail.

Old lady: Does that bob make you run faster?

Me: Put in ear phones and walk away, saying some words to her in my head.  I just couldn't take it anymore.

***********************

Seriously, did that lady just call me fat to my face in a round-about way?  I wanted to punch her, but refrained from doing so.  As a person who has struggled and struggles with weight and body image, this type of comment frustrates me.  Granted, I chalk it up to lady being old and senile.  But still, to have the nerve to say that.  That is the first time in my life that I can remember that someone called me fat.

Now, I am not and will never be a size 0 or 2, but that does not bother me.  In the past few months, I have come to terms with my "happy weight."  The scale does not define me or my happiness.  I'm happy being me, in my size 6 or 8.  I am healthy the way I am, and don't feel like I need to change that.  I feel like the pictures below show that.  So, old lady, take your comment back.  You can eat my dust when I fly past you.



4 comments:

  1. That lady is wiggity wiggity wiggity whack. (Sorry for the Kris Kross reference.) But seriously - what the hell? You're gorgeously in shape!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You go! Don't let that old lady get you down.

    Seriously, you look great (from what I can tell from your photos).

    Right after my diagnosis, I was working as a barista and wearing my medical ID bracelet. At that point, I was about 30 lbs lighter than I am now, and some old lady asked if I could just exercise more, lose weight, and eat better to cure my diabetes. Yeah lady, do I look fat to you?

    P.S. Me being the snark that I am would have just told her that her comments were inappropriate and gone on my merry way. You are a much calmer soul than I am.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OMG. holy hell that's maddening!
    I honestly can't believe even the most old and senile folks are that daft.
    You got NOTHING to worry about. But you know that.
    Good luck on your duathalon, I look forward to reading about it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe it's a guy thing, but I wouldn't take offense at someone saying I had meat on my bones. Or maybe it's a fat guy thing, now that I think about it.
    Anyway, skinny can be taken too far. Maybe she wasn't trying to say what you think she was.
    I agree that you have no need to be concerned.

    ReplyDelete