Comments from Strangers

betho217
betho217 Posts: 50 Member
in Motivation and Support
Just have to get this off my chest....I was waiting for the elevator up to my floor at work this morning and by the time it arrived there were about 10 people waiting. Everyone squeezed on and the elevator made a long beep sound probably because there were too many people on it. A woman directly in front of me but with her back to me says "Looks like someone needs to go on a diet". I know I shouldn't let a stranger's comment bother me so much but it really does. I think she said this as a joke but it's not funny.

It's so discouraging. I've worked really hard to lose the weight I have but I know that when people who don't know me see me for the first time they see me as I am now, someone who is still very overweight.

Have any of you been in a situation like this? How do you handle it?

Oh, and P.S. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, amirite?

Replies

  • stfriend
    stfriend Posts: 256 Member
    Is it possible she was talking about someone else on the elevator? In any case she was rude and I might have been inclined to answer back "Oh, so when are you starting?" That might not be the best way to handle it but it might have made her think twice about opening her trap. Or not. You can't let people, especially strangers, get to you. She has to be pretty insecure about herself to say something like that.
  • 3ofmine
    3ofmine Posts: 136 Member
    Just have to get this off my chest....I was waiting for the elevator up to my floor at work this morning and by the time it arrived there were about 10 people waiting. Everyone squeezed on and the elevator made a long beep sound probably because there were too many people on it. A woman directly in front of me but with her back to me says "Looks like someone needs to go on a diet". I know I shouldn't let a stranger's comment bother me so much but it really does. I think she said this as a joke but it's not funny.

    It's so discouraging. I've worked really hard to lose the weight I have but I know that when people who don't know me see me for the first time they see me as I am now, someone who is still very overweight.

    Have any of you been in a situation like this? How do you handle it?

    Oh, and P.S. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, amirite?

    Was she directing it at you? It sounded to me like it was just her trying to be funny because there was so many people on the elevator. I wouldn't have thought she was talking to me unless she said it directly to me and then I'd have probably cussed her out but I heard something from a comedian(that I think is halarious) say once "you can fix stupid" and in her case to say that to someone this would apply.

    Angel
  • curtnrod
    curtnrod Posts: 223 Member
    Chances are that everyone on that elevator felt the comment applied to them. Very few people are comfortable with their weight or body, so I wouldn't take it personally, just shrug it off and know that everyone is probably feeling the same way you are
  • sandyinsc
    sandyinsc Posts: 70 Member
    The beep was from holding the door open too long ... but I'm with the above poster ... I bet you're not the only one fuming from the attempt at humor.
  • betho217
    betho217 Posts: 50 Member
    You've all made good points. Maybe she is insecure herself. And you're right, I bet there were other people on that elevator who took it personally. I feel better, thanks everyone. :smile:
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
    I would assume it was just a joke meant to apply to everyone as a group, not any one person as an individual.
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
    It sounds like a joke to me unless she turned around and looked directly at you. Personally it wouldn't have bothered me but I can understand that weight is a sensitivity to some.
  • Di3012
    Di3012 Posts: 2,247 Member
    Just have to get this off my chest....I was waiting for the elevator up to my floor at work this morning and by the time it arrived there were about 10 people waiting. Everyone squeezed on and the elevator made a long beep sound probably because there were too many people on it. A woman directly in front of me but with her back to me says "Looks like someone needs to go on a diet". I know I shouldn't let a stranger's comment bother me so much but it really does. I think she said this as a joke but it's not funny.

    It's so discouraging. I've worked really hard to lose the weight I have but I know that when people who don't know me see me for the first time they see me as I am now, someone who is still very overweight.

    Have any of you been in a situation like this? How do you handle it?

    Oh, and P.S. It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle change, amirite?

    You know the first thing that crossed my mind as I was reading your post? It was that she was saying that as a general comment and not aiming it at anybody in particular, just making that comment because the lift had beeped because it had gone over its maximum weight.

    Seriously, I bet she wasn't referring to you at all, just making a comment, especially as she had her back to you anyway- perhaps she was even on about herself!

    You only thought she was on about you because she mentioned diet and your whole self, which has been living weightloss for a while heard the word "diet" and suddenly went to attention lol.

    Do not get discouraged, it is a shame really because you have ended up torturing yourself unnecessarily xxx
  • wannabehotmomma
    wannabehotmomma Posts: 190 Member
    Yes, I agree with everyone else! I ride an elevator everyday (for 25 years) and I don't see that happening. Only in humor, trying to make everyone laugh!! If she meant it, then she is an extremely rude person!!
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
    I also would have taken it as a general comment or even something she meant to apply to herself in self deprecating humor.
  • pastryari
    pastryari Posts: 8,646 Member
    I would assume it was just a joke meant to apply to everyone as a group, not any one person as an individual.

    This.

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