Posted by: BigLiberty | April 24, 2008

Fat hate speech on my “home” messageboard

From the Star Trek message board I frequent, entitled: “Rant: Fat people and Wal-Mart power cars”:

Time to vent.

This might not mean much to the vast majority here, but it’s become a steady source of annoyance for me. As you may know, I’m handicapped and I can’t walk under my own power. I use canes or a power/manual wheelchair to get around.

When I go to Wal Mart with my mother or alone, I use their “mart carts”, because it’s convenient. Just park and go in and get one, y’know? The sign says “For our valued customers who’d like a lift,” so it makes it easy to get in and get out without dealing with my own wheelchair, which I can’t lift and get out on my own.

Unless of course none are available. Which is becoming increasingly the case of late.

At any given Wal Mart, there are maybe 12 of the power carts. At mine, because no one takes care of them, the majority sit uselessly with “out of order” tags slapped on them. The remaining 4 or 5 are somewhere in the store usually, being used by people who DON’T NEED THEM. Obese people who can walk perfectly fine from their cars to the store without using canes. Who walk perfectly fine in their own homes without power chairs or scooters. Yet they take the “mart carts” away from those who are legitimately disabled, like me, who have more of a need for them. And it is really starting to piss me off.

A few days ago, for instance, I’m standing in the entrance to Wal Mart looking in disbelief as TWO carts are being used by two overweight women. They had no canes. They didn’t have tubes in their noses, so I assumed they had no difficulty breathing. What were they doing? They were in line at the McDonalds. And they had nothing in their baskets so they likely had just arrived.

I was livid. I actually went over and asked them if I could use a cart, as the rest were “out of order.” One lady graciously gave it up, while the other said “Well, I have a heart condition.”

Yeah, I bet she did. And the hamburger she was ordering probably did it a world of good, too.

I just don’t understand it. There should be some sort of sign that says “Please give priority to the handicapped,” or something, but even that probably won’t do any good. It’s always the same thing: the only people that seemingly use the carts when I’m in Wal Mart are fat people. And they give me looks. Excuse me? Like they can’t see the TWO CANES in the basket that suggest that I can’t walk.

Like they’re saying, “You’re skinny. What are you doing in one of these?” *sigh* I just don’t know. It pisses me off. And talking to the management does no good. I’ve tried.

Ugh!

Gaaaaarrrghghghg!

Posted in Fat Bias, Fat Hate, General Ignorance

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Responses

Well, that poster would sure as hell hate me then. I’m one of those fat asses that uses a scooter every time I go to Wal-Mart and I don’t have a visible disability (however, I do have handicapped plates on my van and I do use the handicapped parking spaces). Yeah, I can walk from my van to the store, but after having done that, I’m in too much pain to walk the whole store to do my shopping. I suppose I should just try walking through the store until I collapse since my arthritis, fibromyalgia, and severe lower back problems aren’t visible to anyone. Our local WallyWorld has plenty of scooters and I very seldom have to wait to get one, and the next closest WM (25 miles away) sometimes has all their carts in use. I’m not averse to sitting on the bench WM so kindly provides until a scooter is available. After all, I want to get my shopping done, but not at the expense of making someone else get off a scooter they may need just because I can’t see their disability. Nothing like a thin handicapped person ranting against fat handicapped people whose disabilities aren’t instantly visible. Fuckwad asshat dipshit.

By: vesta44 on April 24, 2008
at 10:08 pm

Ok, I’m REALLY sorry, BL, but I can’t even make it through that thread. My blood pressure for sure went up; and I feel the need for an Ativan now. The horrible thing about it is, if they were right - if fat were something that were easily corrected merely by moving more, getting off your couch and your butt, and eating a moderate diet (which most of us already do) then they’d be right. This is where I run into the most trouble with conservatives and libertarians. They are so ignorant of the science and the FACTS that they lump it in with every self-destructive behavior and apply the answers accordingly. This is why I addressed this in my blog immediately - these people NEED to know the facts; they NEED to be reading Sandy Szwarc and Gina Kolata and all the people who put the lie to all the fat myths that exist. To all the deliberately false reporting. To the false obesity epi-panic bullshit.

But it’s so very hard to tolerate the things they say while we’re TRYING to get those facts across to them. I have to start running them down in my own mind - diets don’t work, 77% genetic, dieting makes you fatter, entire countries won’t let you in (New Zealand), children being taken away from their parents, experimentation on “undesirables” by the NIH, being blamed for global warming, twin studies, failed experiments on schoolchildren, and everything else at lightning speed that’s too fast for even me to type. They just don’t KNOW.

And I’d like to add that the sign says “For our valued customers who’d LIKE A LIFT.” Like. a. lift. If you’re shopping there and you want to ride you’re free to. If the local store doesn’t keep them in repair and doesn’t respond to complaints about it, get there earlier. Or go somewhere else. Sure it’s courteous to give up your seat/ride for a pregnant woman, or an old woman, or an old man, or someone on crutches - but are you under legal constraint to do so? In some cases, in some circumstances, but not all.

You’re brave if you can keep talking to people like that. Maybe you know them and think you can eventually enlighten them…if so more power to you. I couldn’t even make it lol.

By: anniemcphee on April 24, 2008
at 11:19 pm

Oh, and to the fat man who said he doesn’t buy into these identity politics and there is no “we” - I’d normally agree except our government has formally declared us a greater threat than terrorism, has declared war on obesity, and has vowed to eradicate obesity (or at least obese people) by pretty much any means necessary. You might not think there’s a “we” but you can bet your sweet fat ass there IS. Just don’t come crying to me when they steal your fucking kids from you - I was trying to tell you all along, fuckwad.

By: anniemcphee on April 24, 2008
at 11:21 pm

I agree with both of you completely on this. The thread got so horrifyingly out of hand (and on a heavily moderated board at that — gah!) that I was considering leaving it, though I’ve been a member almost three years, I met my future husband there, I started my own messageboard as a spinoff of the member base, and so forth.

I don’t believe in a “we,” either, but when other people—like most people declare a War on Obese People, yanno, you sorta start realizing the characterization has already been done for you, and there’s no turning back. Such is the nature of discriminatory group-categorizations.

By: BigLiberty on April 26, 2008
at 11:22 am

This is exactly like the issue I had the last time I went to Disneyworld, which was not long ago. Apperantly there’s this whole lookism thing, that people can tell when someone doesn’t need a ecv (power car) by just looking at them. When we all know here, that you cannot tell someone’s health situation just by looking at them.

My sister had heatstroke from being in 80+ degree weather and having to walk around, why should she have to suffer that? Furthermore it says on Disney’s website that anyone is free to use a power car if they pay for it, which is sorta the same thing as the “cars for our valued customers” message from Wal-Mart.

I e-mailed Disney telling them that their cast members have no right to treat people they ASSUME to be fakers, as in non-handicapped people using the cars, rudely. I can expect some flak from other people visiting the park, not the people paid to work there. I don’t know what is wrong with Disney, but making sick remarks like:

“Where are your tickets, where are your tickets! (person looks for tickets) Oh look here they are! You dropped them.”

and a personal favorite of mine

“Your late with your power car, you won’t get your deposit back! (person looks sad) Haha, I was joking, I just wanted to see the look on your face!”

Is it just me or is that kind of behaviour more of a sign of some pathology the person might have? I mean treating people like they’re pawns for their personal entertainment. If these people are this cruel to adults, I’d hate to see how they treat children. I mean, you can just imagine the person from the last quote, manipulating a child then laughing and saying “I was joking, I just wanted to see you cry.”

My sister has much more tolerance for such things. I would’ve told the person, especially the one from the last quote, to see a psychatrist. It’s not healthy to want to see someone sad, that means that person has some sort of sick need to weild power over others, or has a fascination with causing others pain. That might go over in the S&M clubs, but not Disneyworld.

I don’t know what is wrong with people, I mean to have a miserable time at Disneyworld. That’s just plain wrong. I also forgot that if you have more than one power car, they have you take the car through the line with people. I’ve played video games since I was 6 years old, by all accounts I should have almost imppecable eye-hand corrdination. I found it difficult to manuver past the hairpin line turns with the car. I can only imagine someone busting the car through and through trying to manvuer it, who doesn’t have good eye-hand cordinnation.

This isn’t just about fat either. Perhaps I’ve been amazingly naeive. I thought that everyone treated people who are handicapped well, showed them empathy for the situation they are in. It’s completely the opposite. If you’re not invisble to people as being handicapped, then you’re a burden to them. Making them have to arse themselves to do things like lift a chain off between two metal bars in a line. It absolutely made me sick, I nearly cried.

What kind of world do we live in where a group of people can still be treated as if they’re trash, all because of something that was outside of their control? I mean, yes that does apply to fat acceptance, but here I was thinking people who most people would genuinely see as having a disability. People who are in wheelchairs or power cars, would be treated nicely. Now that I’ve realized that isn’t even true, it’s like I’ve lost a faith I once had in people.

I realize that I’m unique, for actually giving a damn. That’s just awful. I mean, here I thought maybe something is wrong with me for caring too much, or being “oversensitive”. It’s like I’ve said in regards to this in the past, It’s not that I’m oversensitive, it’s that people are undersensitive. It’s always a threat to those people who only care about their own exsistance, that someone has a right they don’t have.

I mean freaking Disneyworld, like you need to have a kid with you so nobody treats your harshly. Like adults just grow out of having feelings or something. Then again, I probably would’ve been that 10-year old girl who would cry seeing someone else being harassed, or treated cruelly. Then of course, told I shouldn’t be so “oversensitive” about other people.

Here goes the Margret Cho, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

By: violetyoshi on April 27, 2008
at 9:34 pm

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