So I get up, feeling groggy and a little out of it, start my microwave breakfast, and then go to check my email. That is when I discover something is wrong with our internet. I try to go to Facebook and get sent to the Comcast page asking for our account number. Which I don't have because the BF takes care of the cable and he has gone paperless with it. >.< So I decide to watch TV with breakfast only to realize that it isn't just our internet, but our whole cable is screwed up. And I can't do anything to fix it until I talk to the BF because I know none of the account information.
Bugger
Thankfully someone who lives near us has a wireless router signal I can borrow to use briefly, so I was able to get on and check email. Only to discover a friend I had on my list who I had always considered to be very high-minded and considerate of others posted a comment where he was spewing derogatory terms against overweight people. This completely floored me and pissed me off all at the same time.
The comment was in regard to a video he posted were a woman was talking about obesity as a civil rights issue. I won't comment about the video. I did not watch it and my problem was not with his viewpoint about obesity, for the most part. I problem was the fact he used the phrase "Own it fatties".
I do not understand, and have never understood, why people use such hate filled, mean spirited language towards other people. I understand being angry and calling someone else names. It is done with the intention of hurting them, of making them feel pain. But what I don't understand is when people do it in an off-handed manner, which is what I assume the incident in question was. Do people not stop and think "Well, if I use the word fattie, overweight people might be hurt so I better not"? Do people not care how their words affect other people?
And I don't understand why it is okay to poke fun at overweight people. I have struggled with my weight my entire life and I can tell you first hand how hard it is for some of us to control our weight. It has very negative effects on our feelings of self esteem and self worth, effects which are only increased when people make fun of us. And yet people think it is okay to say such words just because being over weight is a "choice" (which I think is a debatable opinion in itself).
It frankly just boggles my mind. And to have the issue throw in my face first thing in the morning was very unwelcome.
I hope the day improves. It should since I am suppose to go hang with my friend Christy and do some writing this afternoon. But right now I just want to push the fast forward button and put this day behind me.
Michael, I received this e-mail today and it made so much sense to me that I am going to copy it down and put it where I can see it. Maybe in your situation it will speak to you to as to WHY people act/react like they do. Here it is:
ReplyDeleteOn this day of your life, dear friend, I believe God wants you to know...
...that this is not a day for remembering violence, but for
memorializing your decision to heal every wound that
could cause it.
There is one question that no one will ask of those who use
violence to make their point: What hurts you so bad that
you feel you have to hurt me in order to heal it?
This does not condone violence, but it can help us to
understand it -- and to understand how to stop it. CwG
says, "No one does anything inappropriate, given their
model of the world." Embracing the wisdom in those
eleven words could change the course of human history.
Love, Your Friend....