I’ll admit that I love your site as much as anyone and I’ve laughed at the stories and SOME of the pictures, but what truly disgusts me is the mount of overweight people and possible mentally ill people who are continuously made fun of and degraded. I am overweight myself, and NO I’m not proud of it, and YES, I try to lose weight, but it is a constant battle as is any eating disorder. Yes, compulsive overeating and food addiction are true disorders, and in addition to other reasons (yes, some being some people just eat too much and know it) are reasons for being obese. In my case, I ate too much to “soothe” my sadness for various reasons, just as anorexic or bulimic people don’t eat or purge because they think it is helping them. I used to be thin until I had a few tragic events occur in my life (a parent dying when I was 19 and a terrible car accident only a few years later that has left me with emotional and physical scars) that truly messed with my emotions. Yes, I admit that eating my feelings isn’t a healthy way by any means to deal with these, but when you have a family that believes going to therapists or taking anti-depressents is bad because people will not give you a job, talk to you, etc. because of it, I refused to show my emotions, thus become fairly “tough skinned” but still eating away my emotions. I am trying to lose weight, but when eating is also connected to your mentality, it is a VERY hard battle. Ask any anorexic or bulimic if you don’t believe me? In fact, ask an alcoholic who is trying to quit drinking while still struggling with drinking away problems.
So, how many of you think I’m a disgusting, smelly, gross, fat redneck woman? Most of you right? Let me describe myself to you then so you can see that not all obese people are like those pictured on this website. I’m 29 years old, have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and I teach in a prestigious private school. I buy nice plus sized clothes at Macy’s, Talbot’s, Dillard’s, etc. that cost a pretty penny (plus sized clothes do cost more to my dismay and I have spent $200 or more on an outfit so that I don’t look like a PoW). I make sure that I am always dressed nicely when I go out because as of right now, I’m still overweight, and I don’t want people to see me as a disgusting obese smelly woman as I know many are judged as being simply because they are dressed a certain way that accentuates their weight. I wear nice jewelry, carry VERY nice purses, get manicures, pedicures, and get my hair cut at a very nice salon. Oh, and because Walmart is on my way home, I occasionally stop there if I need something. I will always do my own walking no matter what happens to me unless I am paralyzed, as my mother was disabled due to two amputated legs (due to type 1 diabetes that she had since she was 10) and needed one of those carts. Oh, by the way, being wheelchair bound caused her to be somewhat overweight (by no means obese)due to the limited exercise one can do in that situation, and she always wore pants out because she didn’t want her prosthetic legs showing, so I’m sure had she been alive today, her picture would have been snapped because someone thought she wasn’t handicapped and she was “taking advantage” of the carts. Although sometimes she wouldn’t even use a handicapped parking space because sometimes she knew there were people more handicapped than she, and she could walk a few yards using a cane in order to get to the store to get a cart.
If you saw me, would you take a picture and make fun of me because I’m fat, or does what I’ve said change your mind about some overweight people? All I want you to do is THINK before you say anything, take a picture, or comment, because some of the comments made by people on here are just as redneck and ridiculous as some of the pictures, yet those of you are the ones that claim not to be a “person of Walmart” when that is exactly what it seems like you are. So, whether I’ve changed any minds or not about overweight people, I don’t particularly care, but at least I’ve said my story. Just please, THINK before you type something stupid, upload a possible hurtful picture, or laugh at someone with a weight problem.
