LeatherneckPA
Recycles dryer sheets
I have fought with my weight all my adult life, ever since my ankles got busted up in the Corps. And I have fought this "weight prejudice" ever since. I haven't been under 300 since 1988. In that time I have belonged to one SWAT team and two riot control teams, one of them as the team leader. I'd run the same 2 miles as they would, under full tactical gear, and under the 20 minute time limit. I could carry any member of my team further and faster than anybody else on the team. I'd do all the same calisthenics they would. And I can participate in a "forced cell entry" as well as any lightweight. I have earned the respect of every team member I ever worked with because I didn't ask for, or need, special accommodation. I'm a big boy, but I have trained myself to work through that.
But the unknowing public routinely demonstrates a prejudice against me and others my size. New supervisors, who haven't worked with me before, have to be shown that I can function well. Something they never expect of the lightweights. I even had one stuffed shirt put me in for a "fit for duty" exam purely on the basis of my weight. That pompous SOB wouldn't even use my name when talking about me. He always referred to me as "that fat LT". It really blew his mind when he came out to the field one day and saw "that fat LT" leading the way for his team through every exercise and drill.
Being overweight doesn't make a person less of a neighbor. It should not be a stigma which causes people to point, stare, and talk behind their hands. We know we're overweight. We know it's not good for our health. We know we should lose some weight. When will society learn to judge us based upon our performance rather than our appearance? Seriously, who is healthier and happier? One of us, or the bulemic bone-bag who forces themselves to regurgitate so they can stay a "perfect size 6"? Give me the happy plus sized woman ANY DAY!!
But the unknowing public routinely demonstrates a prejudice against me and others my size. New supervisors, who haven't worked with me before, have to be shown that I can function well. Something they never expect of the lightweights. I even had one stuffed shirt put me in for a "fit for duty" exam purely on the basis of my weight. That pompous SOB wouldn't even use my name when talking about me. He always referred to me as "that fat LT". It really blew his mind when he came out to the field one day and saw "that fat LT" leading the way for his team through every exercise and drill.
Being overweight doesn't make a person less of a neighbor. It should not be a stigma which causes people to point, stare, and talk behind their hands. We know we're overweight. We know it's not good for our health. We know we should lose some weight. When will society learn to judge us based upon our performance rather than our appearance? Seriously, who is healthier and happier? One of us, or the bulemic bone-bag who forces themselves to regurgitate so they can stay a "perfect size 6"? Give me the happy plus sized woman ANY DAY!!