Don’t Want No Fat People ‘Round Here…

I called my OVR counselor today and made an appointment to see her. I want to check into the possibilities of working from home–typing of some kind. She said, “Oh, you’re not interested in working in the community?”

It’s not that. I am interested but I don’t think I’ll get hired because I’m fat and over fifty. When I say that, I’m not being down on myself. It’s a prevailing attitude and that’s where the title of my post comes from. It’s a take off of the old Randy Newman song called “Short People.” The lyrics are full of negative stereotypes about the vertically challenged–heh, how’s that for politically correct? Before you think that he’s bigoted against short people, though, he’s got a stanza that goes “short people are just the same as you and me…” In other words, we get these bad ideas into our heads about people who are different.

Don’t kid yourself, big people are discriminated against. Some of the stereotypes are that we are fat because we’re lazy, that we are slobs, not very bright, not very dependable, greedy, dishonest, unattractive, disgusting and on and on and on. If you are really big, people stare at you. Kids laugh. Getting into and out of chairs with arms can be very embarrassing.

About 10 years ago, I was 50 or so pounds overweight. I was a skilled interpreter and held the highest certification in my profession. I had years of experience. As I became more and more disabled, I began looking into coordinating positions so that I wouldn’t have to sign so much. I always did well in the interviews and everyone seemed to like me but I never did get a coordinator’s position. It may have been my age but I suspect it was more likely that I didn’t “look” the part.

So why don’t we fat people just get up off our lazy butts and lose weight if we don’t want to deal with discrimination?

It’s not that we are lazy or stuck on our butts. For my part although, yes, I do occasionally overeat I don’t make it a habit. I eat mostly fruit and vegetables. Before I injured my ankle I was walking 2 miles everyday–fast–and when I couldn’t do that, I was walking on a treadmill. I am still big. My grandmother was big and so is my aunt and my cousins.

I don’t like it when people see me as stereotype and not as the person I am. The thing is, I forget I am fat most of the time. I see myself as intelligent and curious, caring and loving. I’m a happily remarried widow, a mom, a nana who can still climb around on a playground set after a grandchild, a bookaholic, a cat lover, a writer, and lots of other things. I don’t feel fat until I walk into an interview and I see a group of skinny women with that look on their faces. You know, the one that says oh my, she’s so big! And I think that’s all the see.

So that’s why I want to work from home.

~ by lostkitty on February 5, 2008.