What pushed me over the edge today

[ailbhe]

At the swimming pool, an acquaintance looked at me in my swimsuit and commented to the woman she was with, "Look at that - don't you just hate her? I'd love to be that thin."

I failed the politeness test. I said "It's easy, just get so sick you can't cope with your daily life. A serious virus. Lots of people find cancer works. YOU try being ill, I'll try being overweight." Then I went into the cubicle with my children and cried.

My eldest daughter asked if I get smaller will I still be able to lift them? Will I shrink to the size of a baby?

My youngest daughter said "No Mama cy, Mama, aw-ite Mama."

I apologised to them for crying. And I stayed locked in the cubicle until the women went away.

Comments

[rmc28]

Well done for saying that. I freely admit that I've had thin == good drummed into me for most of my life and it's only in the past few years listening to you that I've managed to break out of that and (hopefully) not been so insensitive to others.

I don't think you were rude, you were factual and not insulting.

I wish I could phrase better responses to people who comment on my body shape and "what you need to do is ..."

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

The all time winner of the Why Do You Think You Have a Right to Comment competition was the middle aged woman who walked p to me, put her hand on my arm and very kindly said "you know, if you wash your face with soap twice a day those spots will soon clear up".

And all this time I thought adult acne is a bacterial skin disease. Thank you, complete stranger, for pointing out in public that I am in fact just a dirty cow.

People are assholes, whatever your shape, size, length, breadth or shoe size. OK, maybe only *some* people are assholes, but it's those we remember, isn't it?

[the0lady.livejournal.com]

Oh and more to the point of your actual comment (and Ailbhe's courage), I have no idea how to tackle these peole either. I just stare at them in amazement, then go away and torture myself in private.