Too Fat For Disney

I really couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  I’m having dinner with a big group of people.  So many that they are sort of having their own conversation over there.  We’re talking about something different over here.  Not really paying attention to what they are talking about, hearing bits and pieces here and there.

 

Blah blah Disney.  Blah blah kids.  Blah blah tramcar.  Blah blah parks.

 

What came next I heard loud and clear.

 

 

My big ears immediately laser focused on their conversation:

 

“Yeah, we were exhausted from walking the parks all day and WE had to wait for this 500lb man on a scooter to board the tramcar…”

 

“We were ALL WAITING for this man who clearly was just using the scooter because he was too fat…”

 

Ok, now I’m paying attention.  Need to see what his next thought is.

 

“I mean, you CAN walk from park to park, but the tramcar just makes it easier.  It’s really for people like us though.  That 500lb guy really should have been walking to the next park… he OBVIOUSLY needs the exercise.”

 

Speechless.

 

Appalled.

 

Disgusted.

 

I couldn’t sit there and not butt into this conversation.  I was like a pressure cooker waiting to blow.

 

That side of the table started reacting to his comment by nervously/anxiously/uncomfortably either agreeing with him or just nodding to show they heard him.

 

I had to say something.

 

I chose this:

 

I couldn’t help but overhear what you were just talking about.  I’d like to offer another perspective for you to think about.  That 500lb man.  You are assuming he has let himself go, that he over eats, that he chooses not to care about his weight. 

 

I got everyone’s attention.

 

How do you know that Disney wasn’t his reward for losing a significant amount of weight?  Maybe he’s just lost 200lbs?  He’s not at his goal weight, but hit this first milestone. 

 

Confusion.

 

How do you know that 500lbs isn’t the skinniest he has ever been?

 

Silence.

 

I believe obesity is the last socially accepted form of discrimination.  And I know I’m not alone on that.

 

People will always be extremely opinionated.  It’s in our nature.  But why is this ok?

 

I have blogger friends and Instagram friends who are KILLING IT on their weight loss path.  They hit the gym 5 times a week.  They plan all their meals.  They drink water like it’s going out of style.  They lose weight.  Consistently.  Week after week.

 

They do so much more than I do in a given week!

 

Some of them have lost 50 pounds.  75.  100 even!  But you know what?

 

They are not 120lbs.

 

Not “skinny” by media standards.

 

Perhaps obese by medical standards.

 

But they are more determined.  More focused.  More motivated than half the people I come across on any given day.

 

And if I saw one of them on the street, would we look different?  Yes.

 

If someone saw one of them walking next to me, would people assume I’m the fit one and they’re not?  Yes.

 

What the passerby doesn’t know is that they are more committed, more focused, more motivated than I am.  I am motivated by THEM.  I am inspired by THEM.

 

This awesome blogger I follow (World’s Biggest Fridge Magnet) recently posted about a group “Overweight Haters LTD” that actually approaches people in public, hands them a card stating their hatred for them, and runs away.  Click here to read it.

 

This kind of stuff just infuriates me and makes me completely appalled.

 

There’s no room for discrimination against obesity.  No tolerance.  We have no idea what’s going on in anyone’s mind… any stranger we pass, any fellow Disney fan on a tramcar, any coworker.

 

They could be way fitter, way more motivated, way more dedicated than we will ever be.  You never know, their journey could be just the inspiration YOU need to get off the couch.

 

What if the guy who (according to my fellow dinner guest) was too fat for Disney is an inspiration to a ton of people on THEIR weight loss journey?

 

Now THAT would be a good dinner conversation!