Is That a Fat Joke? & The Invisible Fattie.

I went to the movies today. Saw Iron Man 2, again, because it's fun, and also because my family hadn't seen it. (I went to see it with my friend Rocky on the night it came out.)

So, anyway, we do what we usually do: Buy some candy at the store and stuff it into purses, get one large popcorn to share and two medium drinks to share between the four of us. My brother and I share a soda like always but because he tends to suck down soda like air (and I love my fountain drinks too, don't get me wrong), it's empty about half-way through the movie and I grope my way down the theater steps to get it re-filled.

Now, I don't really mind doing this, especially when I've seen the movie before, so I'm in a good mood (partially because I find Mickey Rourke extremely attractive in this movie). Unfortunately people can unwittingly (or wittingly) kick that mood in the teeth very easily simply by assuming things. I get to the counter, the girl serving folks is about my age- early 20's. The man in front of me gets a Coke and a bag of popcorn and everything goes off without a hitch.

I get to the counter and smile and say "Coke, please" and push the cup towards her, lid already off.

"Diet coke?" she asks, taking the cup and positioning it under the diet Coke dispenser.

Here's where my face goes from expressing vague Russian-accent-gasm joy to "do you have rocks for brains?" My mind chattered away in my head: "Did I say diet Coke? I'm pretty sure I didn't say diet Coke."

"No. Coke," I repeated plainly and she filled up my cup, slid it back to me and I scuttled away with my brain still talking wildly to me. "I wonder if it's because I'm fat."

Now, I understand that the incident could have been a misunderstanding. Perhaps she didn't hear me (though I doubt it as I am not the soft-spoken type), or maybe she was distracted and didn't hear what I said correctly. But, when you live your life with people taking shots at you right and left, you assume that when someone pulls a gun, there'll be a bullet to follow.

So why do people assume things about fatties? Even when you tell them exactly what you want, they question you. As if you're obviously misstating your wants. The fattie must want diet Coke because she's fat and therefore must be on a diet.

Of course it can go the other way. I've asked for a smaller slice of cake and had the server go "Oh, that's too small for you."

Let me state it plainly... I know what I want. Do not question me when I say I want a small piece of cake or regular Coke. I am not stupid. Do not guess at my lifestyle because you have biases. Period.



Another event happened at the movie theater, this time while I was in line for the restroom. I stood behind a young brunette who was, for the record, thin. I was the last in a line that went out the door (I was holding the door open) until a tall blonde lady strode past me and tapped the brunette on the shoulder.

"Are you in line?" the blonde asked. The brunette nodded and the blonde slid herself between me and the brunette.

Puzzling.

"I'm in line." I said, quickly and the blonde spun around.

"I'm behind you" she said. Well, of course, she obviously wasn't but she got behind me as the line moved up.

My question is a simple one: Why was I not asked if I was in line? She had to walk past me to get to the girl ahead of me. It seems like an obvious thing- when a person is standing behind a person who is standing behind another person who is standing behind another person, et cetera, that is a line, right? Right. I mean, dressed in shorts, a tunic top, and beaded sandals, I'm clearly not the door-woman so why was I invisible to this lady? Why was I ignored, or not seen, or seen but only as someone who wouldn't argue if she took cuts in line? Did she have to pee that bad?

Anyone else have experiences like these?

Big Smiles!
-LexieDi