Fat Discrimination on Twitter

Posted on May 12, 2008
Filed Under Randomness

This just in. Middle-aged, sloppy fattie detracts from Leslie Carbone’s Panera meal experience with her friend. I was following Leslie on Twitter (up till about three minutes before this post) and thus far have not experienced any kind of prejudice on the social networking site. It’s been pretty awesome, actually, but that trust in the global community of microbloggers was a mistake on my part because you know…someone being an ass can sneak right up on you when you’re on a social network that’s always been friendly to you in the past.

Here are the Twitter messages in order

at Panera, sitting separated from my friend, because the identical seat between us is VERY important to a middle-aged 250-pounder

I saw this and wondered…do middle-aged people not move if asked politely (what were the odds she actually asked if she could switch seats instead of being passive aggressive with the universe on twitter?) Or is it fat people that are loathe to move?

The reason for the importance of the chair is now clear. She requires BOTH side tables.

For what? Her food? Her fat ass? It is unclear.

Then I see this one

250 just pulled a tomato out of her sandwich w/ fingers, tilted her head back, and swallowed it like a pledge sliding a goldfish down.

What? The implication here is that someone swallowed a full sized tomato. While I’m sure it’s possible…it seems exaggerated, the size of the throat being what it is. I don’t think your esophagus gets fatter if your ass does, but I don’t have scientific proof of that.

Even better, by the third tweet this woman who is innocently having a meal at Panera is reduced to a number, guessed at by Leslie, and being broadcast over the Internet.

I replied (and then deleted because I’m thinking this is not a conversation I want to get into but it was too late and she’d replied)

Isn’t it disgusting when fat people eat fruit *shudder*

To which she replied (note the shred of righteous indignation along with a totally lame backpedal)

Not always, but it is disgusting when anybody pulls food, mayo globs and all, out of a sandwich and eats it w/ fingers.

So I was sucked in and had to respond

Yet you mention her weight repeatedly and not her sloppy manners. Shocking.

You’d think she could just admit she was having fun being an immature little girl and making fun of the fat girl in the Panera. You don’t like how she’s eating, address that…cause all of us nasty fatties aren’t sloppy. Oh, wait. I eat salad with my hands. I could be that chick at Panera with the crazy tomato eating, sucking everything in front of me down my gullet and my extraordinary throat.

She just wanted to talk shit about some person eating alone at Panera ruining Leslie’s view of…her friend. Cause there were NO. OTHER. OPTIONS.

I’m sure.

Fat hate in action, even on Twitter. Feel free to visit her and educate her. I suck at being an activist and get too flustered that someone could possibly think that way about another human being.

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