it's just the way
first. right off the bat i want to warn you that this is a story of me being verbally accosted in a public place. this sort of thing doesn't actually happen every day but it does happen more frequently than i'd like. and in each and every case the person who berates me is fat. i don't know why this is. do fat people inherently feel the need to point out my shortcomings? do they just hate me? i don't know. so the warning is there for you, read no further if you may be offended by my calling someone fat.
like each and every occurrence in my life it starts with - i was minding my own. and i was. i go to considerable pains to avoid shopping at our local jumbo supermarket chains. i've always had a preference for trader joe's or the occasional indie shop but a couple years back workers at the big chains went on strike. i opted to not cross their picket lines and i've never been back.
well, almost never. on an ugly, santa ana wind infested sunday afternoon i was tired and needed a couple items and the jumbo was so easy and on the way home, i bit the bullet and went in. i managed the find the items i was looking for without much trouble and got into line. there were two shoppers ahead of me, both with items on the conveyer belt and shortly after arriving, someone was behind me in line. i walked forward when there was room and began to place my items on the conveyor when the woman behind me said something so i turned around and drank in her enormitude and knew it was going downhill from there.
she: "you're doing it wrong"
me: "what?"
she: "that"
i looked where she pointed, in the general direction of my groin, and looked back in what must have appeared as simian incomprehensive (or maybe that puppy thing with the turned head).
she: "you can't do it like that. the cart has to be in front of you"
sure enough, i was in fact standing in front of my cart, reaching to my left (as i faced the register) to pick my items up.
she: "i can't put my stuff up there with your cart in the way"
here is where i should have left well enough alone. i know that now, ok? so no need to point it out. instead, i said something like..
me: "irrespective of where i'm standing in relation to the cart we (the cart and i) occupy the same amount of space" i did NOT add "which is roughly half of the space you occupy on your own".. see? i DO self-censor.
she: "no. that's wrong"
now i have a feeling this last comment was calculated to get me to do what she wanted. and it did. to demonstrate i switched places with the cart and yep, same amount of space. undeterred she reached across me, practically bent over at the waist to show that NOW she could reach the belt. she went on to explain that i "need to learn the rules" and "do it right." i asked her simply "please stop talking to me" and with one more "gladly!", she did.
this is at least the third time i've been yelled at by other customers in big chain stores by fat people. so now it's my stock reply when asked why i don't visit wal-mart, k-mart, ralphs, or costco. "the fat people there HATE me!"
like each and every occurrence in my life it starts with - i was minding my own. and i was. i go to considerable pains to avoid shopping at our local jumbo supermarket chains. i've always had a preference for trader joe's or the occasional indie shop but a couple years back workers at the big chains went on strike. i opted to not cross their picket lines and i've never been back.
well, almost never. on an ugly, santa ana wind infested sunday afternoon i was tired and needed a couple items and the jumbo was so easy and on the way home, i bit the bullet and went in. i managed the find the items i was looking for without much trouble and got into line. there were two shoppers ahead of me, both with items on the conveyer belt and shortly after arriving, someone was behind me in line. i walked forward when there was room and began to place my items on the conveyor when the woman behind me said something so i turned around and drank in her enormitude and knew it was going downhill from there.
she: "you're doing it wrong"
me: "what?"
she: "that"
i looked where she pointed, in the general direction of my groin, and looked back in what must have appeared as simian incomprehensive (or maybe that puppy thing with the turned head).
she: "you can't do it like that. the cart has to be in front of you"
sure enough, i was in fact standing in front of my cart, reaching to my left (as i faced the register) to pick my items up.
she: "i can't put my stuff up there with your cart in the way"
here is where i should have left well enough alone. i know that now, ok? so no need to point it out. instead, i said something like..
me: "irrespective of where i'm standing in relation to the cart we (the cart and i) occupy the same amount of space" i did NOT add "which is roughly half of the space you occupy on your own".. see? i DO self-censor.
she: "no. that's wrong"
now i have a feeling this last comment was calculated to get me to do what she wanted. and it did. to demonstrate i switched places with the cart and yep, same amount of space. undeterred she reached across me, practically bent over at the waist to show that NOW she could reach the belt. she went on to explain that i "need to learn the rules" and "do it right." i asked her simply "please stop talking to me" and with one more "gladly!", she did.
this is at least the third time i've been yelled at by other customers in big chain stores by fat people. so now it's my stock reply when asked why i don't visit wal-mart, k-mart, ralphs, or costco. "the fat people there HATE me!"