veronica_rich | Sep. 19th, 2007

I've had to cover an outdoor trade show the past couple of days and today I was walking past a gaggle of teenagers, both sexes, and they spied a little bench, which apparently set one of them off about how very overweight she was. (She's about as overweight as I am skinny, if that gives you any idea at the WTFness.) Someone else did the obligatory, "Oh, you're not overweight" to which she did the typical girl "OMG YES I AM!" reply. They went back and forth for about 20 seconds; even some old men walking in front of them turned to look back with expressions of bemusement at her.

Whereupon, I walked around the group, turned and looked straight at her, furrowed my eyebrows, and said quite clearly, "Please stop talking about how fat you are." She and her friends just stared at me, and I turned, shook my head, and walked off. I heard a couple of the old guys in front of them start laughing, which in turn amused ME.

I don't sit around and dwell on how fat I am; her comment didn't annoy me for that reason. I just wanted to give her a bit of a verbal slap - she's gonna come off with that kind of unthinking comment sometime around a girl to whom their size really *matters* and who will be hurt by the implication that they must be fucking GARGANTUAN in comparison. (I don't mind now, but I do remember being 9 years old and teased mercilessly and how it DID bother me then.) You don't have to be the size of Keira Toothpick Knightley to be considered attractive or healthy (or even skinny).

At least I thought it was a win ...

In more frivolous news, is there anyone who DOESN'T know it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day? I posted a question over at my Will Turner community about just how independent Elizabeth could afford to become if Will hadn't been the one to stick his neck out in CotBP and tell her he loved her, publicly, and THEN rescue Jack. So I guess that means even the J/E fans have to acknowledge that it's thanks to Will they can have their 'ship based at all on canon. (Damn, I know how that's going to chap some of their asses *G*.)

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