TED Talks : Enough With The Fear Of Being Fat

Contrary to popular belief, not every poor person is some salt-of-the-earth type who happened to be impoverished to no fault of his or her own and is thereby starving and not being able to provide for his or her family. There definitely are such people in the USA today, millions them who are suffering from hunger, and so are their children.

The typical obese poor people, the ones I see by the dozens or hundreds… every… single… day… are nothing of that sort. Most or nearly all are urban scum who receive a whole lot of food from the tax payer’s benefits to stuff themselves to their delight. They are poor for the same reason they are obese: they don’t give a shit about anything, and never did–the sort of people who never lifted a hand or foot for anyone or anything, including themselves.

They’re the same people who receive methadone, amongst other healthcare subsidies costing tens of thousands of dollars per year–the sort ED implies we should be responsible for because of their own stupidity and cockiness, even though they are an ultimately unthankful, sinfully lazy and careless lot, the sort that literally bites the hand that feeds them (for real). Well, maybe not bite, but will mistreat (in some cases assault) those that literally feed them food. (How’s that for a mere cliche playing out in reality?) :slight_smile:

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Fixed. I went to my meditation practice last night and pot is now legal in CA, so there’s hope that this will improve until it’s only occasional jerkiness.

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Thank you. It’s the way I see it.

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I hope you’re kidding, because I sure as heck was. Did you miss the ‘sticking out tongue’ emoji? (I told Colucci that TN’s emojis were too small!)

I know, I’m saying that there isn’t a human alive worth $5k expenditure for sex.

Now, have I technically spent that much and more “wooing my wife”? Sure, but that’s different. There is a lot more to that than just sex, and I’ve never bought into the “you pay for it either way” all that much, when you’re talking about dating to find someone to share your life with.

ha. I’ve got a think for shoes… I don’t care one ounce for feet, but have a thing for nice hair and shoes.

I highly doubt you fail in self care or the care of others. Do you fail in attending work because you simply don’t feel like attending? Do you fail in care for your children?

I dunno, some might pay 5g’s. I had a boss one time that paid $1,200 for an all nighter with a prostitute every bit as large as this lady. We all told him he could go down to the truck stop and get shit for $50. Then he could give us a raise. :flushed:

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When I was in SE Asia that was how all the aussie’s tried to convince me that prostitution was the same as taking a girl on a date. I think they’re just rationalizing the decision with some twisted logic.

Was he also a big (dare I say fat, which will further contribute to the fatphobic society… :slight_smile: ) guy?

Edit: Smiley looks absurd but trying to convey the tongue in cheek nature of the comment

No, he was actaully small and thin. He just had thang for large, preferably dark skinned women ( his words, not mine). None of us, could even phathom somebody paying that kind of money for sex.

lol.

I don’t have an issue with people paying for sex, as long as the transaction was 100% consensual from both parties, and not some result of some poor kid abused and full on Stockholm Syndrome. I’m not even saying I’ll never buy sex. (I may, you never know, assume my current life turns to ruins of course, I could see myself at that type “rock bottom”.) Yes, paying for sex would constitute “rock bottom” for me, and my personal situation. Not everyone’s situation would mean that paying for sex is “rock bottom”. Shit, for some, I think paying for it is the smartest and ultimately healthiest option.

That said, I agree. Using the date comparison is weak, and deluded. Like someone I will always admire and respect from this board was saying awhile back “arguing via analogy is weak, and will fail a lot.”

My neighbors are like that. The wife is bigger, and may score into “obese” but honestly, it’s still all in the right places, and she, while on the larger side, has a killer shape. But the husband is rail thin, straight up “the Machinist” skinny.

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I love big black women! (no, not like that)

At fast food places they always give me extra burgers, chicken strips, etc. Guys at work thought I was nuts when I said that. Then we went to a burger king where they got screwed up orders and I left with a bag of extra whoppers. The KFC/Taco Bells are the best.

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I feel like this stupid thread has jinxed me!

We have a caregiver who comes over to the house to be with one of the kids while I’m running the other one to the orthodontist or wherever. College basketball player, and can lift a 75 pound kid in and out of a wheelchair without a second thought. Just love her, but she wasn’t available the other day, so the service sent over a new person. College-age young woman was a few inches taller than me, but had to weigh between 300-400 pounds. She said she’d never lifted anyone, but I think she’d have trouble, just because her arms aren’t long enough to fit around her belly AND hold someone. So, that’s not good. Also, I really like my couch and it stressed me out to watch her sit down. Apparently, I’m a sizist and didn’t know it.

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You’re not anti-size; you’re pro-couch.

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See, you don’t fall short in your personal hygiene and health and duties as a mother. If you’re employed, or when you were employed, I’m sure you aren’t or weren’t chronically late or absent even though many of us would often rather not attend work or sleep later and stroll in whenever we feel like it. Why don’t we do so? Well, despite the strong urge to continue sleeping past the time we must awake to arrive to work on time or chronically play hooky, we show up to work, oftentimes under-rested and underfed or simply in shitty moods because the consequences can be swift and precarious (well, in normal places they are).

With overeating and fatness, the consequences are a bit more insidious. So the chronic overeater cares less about the harmful effects of their habit. But it nevertheless is carelessness. If the consequences were on their mind, the way that other consequences occur to them, they wouldn’t overeat.

The aims for which you speak of failure–being perfect, which is damn impossible; having an enviable physique; being a modern-day Wonder Woman who has and does it all (when raising healthy, normal kids is really enough)–require far more gut-wrenching effort and ambition than simply not overeating and minimal levels of self-care.

There’s no failing in trying to be Wonder Woman considering that it’s highly unnecessary for a healthy life. There is failing in maintaining one’s health when one has the mean’s to do so, especially when all it requires is a small amount of knowledge and restraint.

I see this all the time. There must be something about healthcare workers that makes them just love to overeat, and I don’t know what it is. Many state they are overweight, only for one to see them a short time later overeating, usually at the next lunch break or holiday party. So the end result is the same: they don’t care, and they’re not scared.

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I don’t want to sound like a wiseass here and you know I have respect for you and we’ve had meaningful conversations. However, I feel empathy for those who are truly on hard times or suffering to no fault of their own! I also have empathy for people who made wrong decisions of their own volition and then, after maturing and introspecting, repented.

I don’t have idealistic expectations of human beings, including ones that are far from perfect. I don’t respect people simply for being physically attractive, rich, intelligent, or talented. Last I checked, there are many unlikeable smart, attractive, and rich people. Living in one of the five boroughs of NYC and spending time in Long Island, I’ve met quite a few. I’m fairly ordinary myself. I’m not rich and I’m not gorgeous (though I do think I’m attractive to enough people) and I don’t give a shit because I don’t need to be for self-respect! Neither does anyone else.

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Having worked with predominantly black women (nearly all of my co-workers are black women) and in black towns I’ve noticed many like muscular white or white-appearing (eg, Jewish) men.

Yup. My main exposure is just at fast food places. I’ve gotten “oh my Gosh, you look like Tom Cruise” (I don’t) a lot.

You could totally pull of a Bradley Cooper for a box of chicken tenders.

I’ve gotten the Bradley Cooper thing so many times. :slight_smile: It’s a compliment!

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Just throwing a spanner in the works:

I think there are some people that just don’t get “science”, or maybe they just don’t believe it or think its too complicated to “use” . I have met a few of them.

They just don’t understand that a large big mac every 2-3 days is not doing their waistline any favours or that the large chocolate milk with their morning croissant is just a “normal” breakfast.

Im not sure why. Is it the way their brain is wired or is it the way that hey have been raised??

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