Comments on: How NOT to earn great restaurant tips

By: bookworm

bookworm — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:10:50 +0000

If I’m eating 1300 kcals, I’m gaining tons of weight. Everybody’s body makeup is different, RP, and comments from either side of the aisle could stand to stop.

By: bookworm

bookworm — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:06:04 +0000

I think what was written on the receipt is tip enough. When what you earn is directly related to how you treat your customers, it’s a good idea to leave comments about personal appearance at the door.

By: TheBeerLady

TheBeerLady — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:08:28 +0000

Oh, and Dr.? Aside from the fact that no matter how much you want to cite percentages, it’s a rather big assumption to decide that all overweight people are lazy gluttons, “moral failure” is very much a personal decision. Personally, I fail to see how eating dry lettuce is any more or less moral than eating a Big Mac.

But the idea that skinny has always been the standard of beauty? Perhaps you might want to study up on your history a bit, because the more ’rounded’ female body has been celebrated going all the way back to antiquity – the current notions equating ‘slender’ with ‘desirable’ are relative newcomers (and is far from universal even now).

In relatively modern times – we’ll say the last 200 years or so – fashion has dictated the female form, not followed it. Fashion dictated the stick-straight perfect figure of the flappers, the adoption of the bustle to make the butt look bigger, and the use of corsets to accentuate the breasts.

Dang, I feel a blog post coming on…

By: Jami

Jami — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 06:13:13 +0000

@Nocturnesthesia – While it’s true that Americans are very overweight – and this can be due to a LOT of factors other than overeating such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, thyroid disorders, even allergies – China is the 2nd most obese country in the world now and rapidly catching up with us.

In other words, if you picked up some books and read them you might learn something.

By: Moxie

Moxie — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:14:47 +0000

Um, no. This isn’t a strictly western phenomenon. I’m sure your bigotry is happy to believe that, but I can tell you that few women, regardless of where she is in the world, wants to be mistaken as pregnant when she’s not.

TL;DR – You’re a moron.

By: Nancy

Nancy — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:52:54 +0000

People don’t always do as we think they should, do they.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:38:16 +0000

@Dr. Chalkwitheringlicktacklefeff, check your statistics. It’s actually about 1 in 5 to 1 in 10, depending on which survey you read.
For just one, see http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/metabolic_syndrome/hic_metabolic_syndrome.aspx

By: Nocturnesthesia

Nocturnesthesia — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 19:35:55 +0000

In most cultures it’s not an insult… There are just so many fat people in the west that the percentage of normal-weight people get oversensitive and have a ridiculous knee-jerk reaction to someone mentioning anything that could be remotely construed as being related to their food intake or body weight.

tl;dr Western women on the whole have horrible body image and whine a lot

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:18:20 +0000

“When’s that ba-a-a-a-by due?”

By: Amy in Toronto

Amy in Toronto — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:26:16 +0000

Ditto for me wearing the empire waist. I returned from enjoying a lovely dinner at my sister’s place when this busybody in my condo greeted me in the entrance and asked me how far along I was. I cheerily said, “I’m about 2 hours along in digesting, thanks for asking.” It’s in these situations when I feel least able to come up with an effective zinger to retort back at the offending person.

By: Hopita

Hopita — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:32:37 +0000

My personal favorite is “Oh, I’m sorry. I had you confused with somebody else.” Can be used in both directions (as in “When are you due?” “I’m sorry. I think you have me confused with somebody else.”). It has the added bonus of being at least *remotely* plausible.

By: BGFPeaches

BGFPeaches — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:27:51 +0000

I carry my extra weight in my tummy, so I get the “when are you due” question a lot. Once a woman working at a Nordstrom cosmetic counter asked me when I was due. When I told her I wasn’t pregnant, she said “Oh, but it’s the perfect little bump!” I guess I was supposed to be flattered …

By: RP

RP — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:29:49 +0000

It also never occurs to people that the person they’re talking to is actually infertile or having trouble getting pregnant.

I’ve heard of this happening with women with PCOS because it encourages fat accumulation in the trunk, making you look pregnant, and is a cause of infertility.

By: RP

RP — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:24:39 +0000

FALSE DILEMMA