Friday, February 5, 2010

Yeesh.

Still 237.5

DC is in the midst of preparing itself for a Snowmageddon, so last night I went to the grocery store after work to stock up on a few essentials to carry me through the storm.

A reasonably common sight on street corners in DC is vendors hawking "Street Sense" which is a non-profit newspaper that deals with homelessness and is sold by the homeless as a source of income. While sometimes it can be a little "I'm just trying to walk don't shout at me," in general I've always thought it's a perfectly decent non-profit and respected their work. The vendors generally aren't rude or obstructive, and won't put pressure on you or bother you if you're waiting for a light at the same corner and have indicated you're not interested.

I say generally. There's one guy who hawks the paper on P street between 14th and 15th, right outside of CVS and next to the Whole Foods I go to. He's always been very aggressive, rude, not like the other vendors. So, you know, not a good guy, but whatever, I have my headphones in and can just zip right by. Last night, as I did so, he shouted out something along the lines of "Hey [Lady? Blondie? I couldn't tell] you know I looooooooooove big beautiful women."

Fuck you. (Not you guys!) Seriously. I do not need to be called fat on my way to Whole Foods. What a douche. I half wanted to give him a New York Salute, but instead just walked on by because, you know, I'm not an asshole like he is. I am officially NEVER buying Street Sense again. And I'm going to tell my friends never to buy Street Sense again either. Fuck him.

Needless to say, this made me a little mad. And you know, whatever, I am fat. I get it. I lost 40 pounds. I'm working on losing more. But someone essentially shouting at me on the street "Hey Fattie"? Not helpful.

Brushing it off as best I can, I go into Whole Foods. It's chaotic, at best. I manage to get fruits and veggies, milk, and get myself in one of the enormous lines. (They were actually wrapped around the aisles, it was crazy.) Right in front of me was a mother with two small children, one in a large stroller, and the other a girl of about 5 or so. Although the mother and I briefly commiserated about the length of the lines at the beginning, DC's a city, people don't really talk in the lines, and she wasn't all that comfortable in English. (It seemed like she was speaking Chinese to her children, but if you told me it was another Asian language I'd believe you.)

As I stand around waiting, I sometimes like to stand on my tip toes just to see how long I can hold it. The five year old, it seemed, was amazed by this and asked me how I did it. I showed her. This was about a 30-45 minute line, so we had plenty of time to kill. She and I ended up going through my basket food by food, with me saying "do you like bananas?" and her replying "I like bananas." After we'd been through the 12 or so items, I went into "do you like cheese more than strawberries?" and whatnot. Then I did the only economist trick that's vaguely cool to young children, by proclaiming that I knew she liked cheese more than bananas, even though she hadn't told me, because she liked cheese more than strawberries and strawberries more than bananas. Ah, to be 5 and still impressed by transitive properties and revealed preferences.

And we waited and waited.

She started asking me the same questions I asked her: "Do you like green beans?" "Do you like tomatoes?" and on and on.

And then, as we waited more, she pointed at my tummy and said "Do you have a baby in there?"

Yeesh.

I don't blame the (adorable) little kid. She obviously didn't know any better. And she certainly didn't know I'd just got called fat by the homeless guy outside.

But still, yeesh.

Still, I suppose it's all for the better. I'd hate to lose all the weight before I at least once endured an erroneous question about pregnancy.

22 comments:

  1. Yeesh is right! What a night!! O.O
    If I hadn't lived moments exactly like that...I'd be lying to you.
    Have I ever told you that I LOVE your "economist way of thinking". It always makes me smile!
    Since I HAVE had days just like the one you describe above, the only way I could turn them into a positive, was to NEVER forget those comments and use them as motivation when I was working out...anger always helped fuel my workouts, and made me feel better!!!
    We may be drowning in rain here, but snowmaggedon out trumps rainy days anytime!!! Hope you weather the storm well!

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  2. OMG. The Orange Kitteh & I have tears....I know it was not funny last night, but wow we can so relate. Points awarded for interacting with small children in a grocery line from hell! Big points. Yesterday we were directed to the site fmylife.com. I think after yesterday, you too will find it amusing. No matter how bad a day we have, fmylife.com makes you realize its just small stuff.

    Thanks for a great post, it was real and honest. Sorry for the experience tho. Hope you weather the snow storm. You rock and we just love your blog! :D

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  3. Oh boy. What a day. Is there a do-over button somewhere?

    Congrats on those 40 pounds gone. One day the rude paper pusher dude will be whistling at you when you walk by.

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  4. so..was the mom just standing there? did she say anything?

    seriously...i would have probably gone home and eaten a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

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  5. Awww!! Sorry about that. Once someone, who insisted I stole her parking space called me a fat bitch. I wondered if it made her feel better that she added the word fat to it. People are stupid.

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  6. What a day! Sorry you had to endure all of that! I hope today is better.

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  7. Oh Hadley, that royally sucks. One thing on top of another. Stuff like that makes me die inside a little bit everytime.

    Keep reminding yourself, you have LOST over 40lbs! You are on the journey out of there, and doing a great job at it!

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  8. Ugh! I'm so sorry about this. Twice in one day...I tell ya! The kid thing, she's innocent. It still hurts though.

    But that guy...that's another story! What a sexist pig! What kind of man thinks he can reveal his sexual preferences unasked? No wonder he's selling newspapers.

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  9. I have had the latter happen to me and it is no fun. But out of the mouths of babes right?

    I did it once and was wrong and learned my lesson.

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  10. You should have told her, "Yes, I ate one for lunch and it was yummy!" ;-)

    But on another note, don't stop buying Street Wise! Maybe don't buy it from that vendor (and even call the publication and report him) but really, that publication can provide important income and employment experience for folks who really need it. We have something similar in my city and I work for a social service agency that serves homeless people, so I see every day how important it is!

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  11. YEESH is correct!!
    :( sorry to hear, but just think in no time the comments will be "damnnn who is that hot babe with the rockin BODY!"
    :)

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  12. O-M-G! Been there! Done that! I know the feeling. But two in one day? DAMN! Keep your head up, girl. You'll get there eventually. Soon enough you'll never have to hear it again!

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  13. I had that happen...
    one little kid said to me...
    "when are you going to have your baby'
    I said "I'm not'.
    He said "is there a baby in there?
    I said "No, I'm just fat."
    lol.
    ahhh, kids.
    The mother apologized...but I said
    "well, I am fat and he is probably confused."
    I love kids.
    They are so honest.
    The other guy was a pr*ck.
    I would have said...
    "Yeah, well you may like big beautiful women."
    But I like guys with upward mobility potential."
    That should shut him up.

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  14. Kids are brutal, however the man had no right to talk to you like that.

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  15. Oie. I hear ya lady. The cafeteria lady at my work asked me if I was pregnant a few onths back. I almost died. I think I actually chocked on my own spit. Needless to say I haven't work that shirt to work since that day.

    Keep it up, it'll come off - it has too - you're eating well, exercising, it can't not come off.

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  16. Oh man, Hadley. I hear ya. I've been there - many, many, many times. And it sucks. Big time.

    I used to work in a restaurant where the guys in the kitchen would call me "gordita", which essentially means, "fat, little girl", but they told me it meant "beautiful big woman". Yeah, right.

    And there were the numerous times people gave up their seats for me on the subway because they thought I was preggo.

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  17. I've had men say that to me before, when I was bigger. Not very welcoming. I get comments a lot, men always feel comfortable telling me they'd sure like to be my bike seat, or other crap. As for Street Wise, it's a good cause, don't let one bad apple ruin it. Back in the crack days of early nineties, there was actually a guy, if you gave him a dollar, you'd get a copy from six months ago. This man, perhaps like yours, is not a real vendor, but maybe a scammer. They're always so polite, non-pushy.

    People say stupid crap. The kid doesn't know any better, maybe that man thinks you'll go on a date with him. Maybe that's why people say it to me. Or they just want my attention, my reaction? I dunno.

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  18. :/

    I hope tomorrow is a better day!

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  19. OMG that guy was a douche! Can't call the little girl that but I know how you feel. I once had a lady as me where the baby section was in Walmart and when I told her (because I was just there picking up a present for my friends baby) she said, "Oh yeah you look like a mother that's why I asked". Mind you I get mistaken for a high schooler still so I was assuming she was talking about my weight.

    Ahh... people!

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  20. Yeesh is such a mild word to describe what that stupid jerk said to you. The little girl, on the other hand...I think kids in general have a thing with noticing the girth of people's bellies. My son will still talk about when my belly was bigger and how it's so nice and flat now...and he'll get really excited and say it like, "Wow!!!! I just can't believe how little it is now..."

    Ok, already. Sorry about that dude though, I liked your clever little time-killing kid game.

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  21. Hadley,
    I hope all is well over there on the east. :) Maybe you are all snowed in? :)

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  22. OMG! I was thinking what an ass about the vendor, and then it turned to how sweet--love the story of the little girl until the baby part. OMG...I don't drink, but I think after that praticular outing, I probably would have gone home and had a drink.

    BTW, I didn't know what the New York Salute was, so I had to click the link. Imagine, I've been giving that old salute since a teenager and didn't even know it. lol I do it in the car--and it drives my son crazy. I taught him the trick is to do it below the seat level so no one can see you. That way you can get your frustration out, give them the bird, but they don't know. No road rage then. lol

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