A girl came into the store with a bent debit card that instead of being able to be swiped through the register, had to be entered manually. The girl was tan skinned, curly haired and average looking and when I joked, "ran it through the laundry machine?", she started her bubble voiced response with, "No I'm a big girl and I accidentally sat on it..."
As someone living in one of (if not the) fattest countries in the world, it's hard not to find at least one person a day who has at least a little extra weight. I dont' give it much thought (hell, I could lose some weight too) unless the person in question is obese, or at least acting in an obese way.
Obesity to me isn't all an issue of size, but rather an attitude. If you're overeight, but staying active - walking around, having fun, offering something meaningful to society, or maybe even acknowledging the fact that you're not a model and are trying to better yourself for your own purposes, fine.
if on the other hand you're allowing yourself to fall by the wayside by keeping a job that keeps you on your ass all day, eating fried foods and cheesecake, and instead of doing anything productive are rather taking up space, well, how does one allow themselves to become that?
My point here is that I was taken aback when the girl brought it up, as I hadn't given it a thougth myself, and it's not every day that you hear someone talk about their own weight without the slightest of uncomfortability coming along with it - and, without sounding sexist here - especially a woman. It was good to see that this person, at least, didn't believe in the "ignorance is bliss" rule. She appeared happy and healthy even as she was bringing up her weight. It seems logical to guess that this attitude isn't a rarity seen in a fleeting, coffee shop moment, but rather one that translates to her everyday life.
