Thursday, December 6, 2012
Stockton, California
Three girlfriends go out to a local restaurant/bar for dinner and drinks, order at the bar and then go forage for a table. When their bill arrives, they are enraged and offended when they notice the receipt says: FAT GIRLS. (read the full story here: http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/customers-called-fat-girls-restaurant-bill-165554715--abc-news-topstories.html
After reading the story and the comments, I think "much ado about nothing!"
It is amazing to see how many people have been offended, but more than that, I'm surprised at how many people have drawn assumptive conclusions.
Three 'fat girls' stopped at a bar to order drinks and food, and did not run a tab, but went to find a table.
Bartenders in such places (at 8:54 p.m. on a Thursday night, Dec 6) are normally super busy.
Since they may have no knowledge of table numbers or (even if they do) where you might finally sit your "fat" arse... their particular bartender made a note that would make it clear for HIM/HER to remember -- something that would enable him to identify these girls/women to the wait staff when their order was up.
A bartender would label them something "unique" to them vis-a-vis the others in the bar at that moment (some of whom may have ordered food at the bar, too)... maybe... 3 redheads.
Would you go off the deep end if truth is you are a redhead? What if he had said the bleach blonde, or the man with eye patch, mother with 2 kids, or 3 fat girls? Are these statements REALLY insulting, or more specifically, even, potentially, untrue?
Obviously, the women WERE fat, or he'd have labeled them something else obvious about them. He did label them something immediately apparent about them, not something offensive or derogatory as suggested in a comment given at the site listed above (The 3 Pigs).
So they WERE fat... so what? Is noticing that an offense? Is noting it offensive?
Everywhere you go, in our culture, people notice your physicality -- it is a sign of your overall health, vitality, energy, lifestyle, attitudes and mental state, and it reflects your commitment to yourself.
So what?
Well for starters, if you don't like, or aren't comfortable, with the statement your FATNESS makes about the overall YOU.. THEN CHANGE IT!!
But -- Let your body say for you... what the bartender wrote and you go off the deep end about it??
He didn't say 3 fat "ugly" chicks. Ugly is a judgment. He made no judgment with his note; he merely described what he saw, in shorthand, so he could identify them to the wait staff. He wrote A FACT about this group.
No reason to get your panties up in a wad.
What can this story mean to us all now? Suddenly Black Couple is racist? Fat Girls is offensive? Gay couple is discriminatory? Where do we draw the line over this overly-sensitive bullshit...?
Don't we have better things to do with our time? Like waste time even having this to blog about???
Maybe some people only sit home eating bon-bons and waiting for a lawsuit to make them happy..
I'd have laughed and ordered another milkshake!!!
Maybe this was a wake-up call from the universe for these 3 fat girls who might currently be headed for a head-on collision with heart attacks... Maybe it is a message to all of us to take responsibility for our decision and to stop blaming others for how badly we feel about ourselves. Blame your fork! Blame the hand that guides that fork to your mouth! Find the root cause for your unhappy condition and deal with it directly, rather than blaming others for noticing what you have already shouted out loud and clear!
As for me, it's time to celebrate this moment of awareness (without food).
Hurray for Fat Girls, Redheads, Bleach Blondes, Men with eyepatches, Bald guys, Mothers with kids, Old ladies, Old men, Black Couples, Bartenders who notice the obvious about us and make note of it, etc. etc. etc. As a matter of fact, Hurray for us all... and Hurray for us all.. who can afford to eat out!
