This actually happened a few months ago but I forgot about it. I was straightening up my bathroom and found this card:
And it reminded me about what I wanted to say about this.
So here's what happened.
I was out shopping - KID FREE so thoroughly enjoying myself. I walked into Torrid, a store for women size 10 and up. I'd just walked into the store and stopped right by the first rack of t-shirts because I needed to respond to a text. I felt a tap on my shoulder and there was the lady who gave me this card. She told me that if I, or anyone else I knew, wanted to get healthy to give her a call.
It didn't register at first. I took the card, smiled and said thank you. But as she walked away, it registered. She gave me this card because she thought I needed to lose weight. I felt targeted. Like, did she really FOLLOW me into a plus size store to tell me she could help me get skinny??? The more I thought about, the more angry I got. I even Snapchatted how bogus it was.
Maybe I was over-reacting, but I don't think so. I think what she did was seriously rude and could be extremely damaging to some people. And I don't think she would ever think about it that way because she was just out to sell her products.
You know what else? There's this growing trend of people sending friend requests on Facebook to people just to expand their contacts for their direct-sales business. Please don't think I'm not aware of what you are doing. If we haven't spoken in 19 years (or even ever!) but you all of a sudden want to be "friends," I know why. And, several of these requests have been from people who sell weight-loss brands. And I don't doubt that these people have sent me requests because I look like I could stand to lose a few. I could. I've gained a lot of weight over the last year. I'm fully aware, thanks.
So, I just want to say this:
Don't.
Don't "target" people. Don't send friend requests to overweight, distantly-connected people. Don't send direct messages to people you barely know telling them you have a great product that could help them. Don't go into plus size Facebook groups advertising your weight-loss products. It's just plain not nice.
People like me who are overweight are VERY AWARE OF THEIR SIZE. They don't need relatively thin people pointing it out and offering to help with your miracle products. FYI - they don't work and they taste bad, so stop lying to us LOL.
I'm OBVIOUSLY very secure with myself. I'm a solid size 16 and I'm good with it, otherwise I'd be making a change. I'm not ready. When I am, I will. But what if I wasn't so confident in myself? What if my self-esteem was seriously lacking? What if it had taken all my courage to walk into that store to buy something nice for myself? What if I had just lost a ton of weight and was going in there to celebrate myself? Only to have someone follow me in to indirectly tell me I'm fat. NOT COOL.
So just think about what you're doing. Make sure you're not targeting people. Make sure you're not hurting someone's feelings. That's all.
Until next time,
xoxo
LMAO. First, your sense of humor gets me. I love it! Your my new BFF. Haha! I totally know EXACTLY WHAT you are saying here. It is SO annoying to be put in this group of unhealthy, ("diagusting"), lazy, no-good people, as if we don't already feel like crap most of the time because of what we are dealing with. I'm not playing the pitty card either. I know how much I weigh, how I look, I know I need to lose some weight, bUT I don't need a constant reminder of these things. I'm fully aware, like you said. People's states, comments, and the like are all obvious even if they try not to be. We know. I know. Everyone knows. I used to hate shopping at plus-size stores because I didn't want to walk out with a bag that screamed "plus size". I would put that bag in another bag. I get what you're saying and I am with you. Xoxox. ❤
ReplyDeleteMy fb messenger is always filled up with requests from Herbalife, it works and the list goes on. It's astonishing how some people are targeted. There's nothing wrong with plus size. Smh. I love your look btw.
ReplyDeleteHello mate greatt blog post
ReplyDelete