Help The Fat Man
By Sid Khullar • Jul 24th, 2009 • Category: Columns
| It looks like you're a regular now! :-) Have you registered yet? We've got loads of discount coupons for registered users, which are updated every month with new restaurants. |
Why is it that every time we see an overweight person, we assume they’re looking for advice on losing weight?
I’m overweight and quite aware of the fact. I also know the reason for it and what I should be doing about it. In my case for example, I tended to snack heavily, had a mindset issue which caused me to hoard food and finally I ate like a maniac whenever stressed. The solution therefore is to recognise the root of the problem and gradually work towards resolving it. Likewise, most overweight people are quite aware of the reason for their condition.
Now, one would assume the normal thinking person knows this and would behave normally. It doesn’t happen like that most of the time unfortunately. Most people who aren’t overweight seem to feel instantly superior when meeting a chap who’s overweight. For example, I know this chap who insists on making a few smart comments every time we meet. The last time this happened, I politely asked him if I should comment on his being a midget, his inability to write or speak one line of grammatically correct English, his tendency towards 6 inch elevator shoes or his puking for two days after consuming 30ml of alcohol. We didn’t meet after that for obvious reasons.
I’m wondering what makes people oblivious to their own shortcomings when selecting targets for their peculiar brand of humour. Have you noticed that the same chaps feel totally insulted if you get equally personal? I mean, this chap I know flew totally off the handle when I pointed out the number of links in his browser ‘Favourites’ that pointed to websites for penile enhancement.
Now, for a moment, let’s assume some people are fat because they’re just too lazy to do anything about it, or perhaps it doesn’t bother them. Then why, I wonder, do people feel the need to get all judgemental on him or her? I regularly get advice on how to lose weight by this chap who has severe communication issues, types like a retard and hasn’t heard of punctuation.
Being fat isn’t necessarily due to over-eating. The root cause could be a medical condition, personal problems or any one of a hundred reasons, all of which aren’t really anyone else’s business. Perhaps some people just gain weight randomly. Is discrimination or mockery the answer?
As is evident from my very personal remarks above, all of us can easily get quite judgemental about others and all of us definitely have things we’re sensitive about – things that can easily be made into a big public joke. Think of how your car is maintained, your clothes, the size of your nose, teeth, bitten fingernails, smoking, pitted skin and remember if you’re not being made fun of, it’s because people are being nice to you, not because there’s nothing about you that can be mocked.
So… if you’re the type who tends to rib people about their weight, even in jest, remember it’s just one comment to you and the 27th one of the day for the person in question. Conversely, if you happen to be the target of such comments, just let fly.
- Sid
Chef at Large Reviews by Chef at Large is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.chefatlarge.in. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.chefatlarge.in.
Sid Khullar is a self confessed food addict who likes cooking, writing and photography... and travel, if it gets him closer to a good book and interesting food.
Email this author | All posts by Sid Khullar
They do the same thing to thin people too, always offering advice on what one should be eating to gain weight.
Basically we all love to give advise, fromfood to fertility, cricket to world peace. It is one of the favourite time passing activity. Go to a pan shop or a tea thela or a bar, & you will get proof for this.
yep,,niyas right! we will always be getting unsolicited ideas for free and also will be giving away so many things to people unasked..there is no stone hit reason for being fat…every person’s body varies with his life style, daily activities, harmones, and hereditary things. so its not always advisable to give away point like this
Sid, this needs to be on FB. To be shared by all. Beautifully written.
The funny thing is that most of these “so called thin people” who are advising have no clue about fitness themselves. I am myself quite overweight, though losing steadily. Obviously I have read more on this topic that any of these advisors. So when they cross the limit of one or two casual comments, I go for them telling them how unfit they actually are & what routine should they follow to be actually fit. You should see the U-turn they take & their shock at me commenting on their “Personal Matters”. Atleast it keeps these people quiet for future.
Hi Sid,
I completely agree with your point of view. Some time ago, a friend of mine was going through a deep emotional crisis because she was slightly overweight. She was made the victim of several barbed comments and tasteless humour. At that time, I told her to let it be and not pay heed to such foolish people. But now that I find myself in her shoes I have come to realise how disturbing such behaviour can be. I love cooking and trying out new cuisines…I am a big foodie…I know I should exercise but am a tad bit lazy to do so. But that’s completely my problem and no one else’s. I wonder who gave others the right to be holier than thou and pass judgements like that on people. And the minute you turn on the heat on them, the crap about “it’s personal” comes up.