I, of course, was fat in high school too. Not as fat as I am now, but still obese. I had bad acne, bad teeth, bad hair...the list could go on for quite some time. However, I remember one particular incident that has never left my mind and all of it came rushing back tonight at Red Lobster! You know...where this one Catholic good-girl was not eating meat on a Friday! ;) I got there early to reserve a table for us~me, the munchkin & the aunt.
I walk in and the hostess is one of the girls I went to high school with. It has been a long time when I've had to interact with someone from high school. I probably seemed out of it to her because I was shocked to see her still there. I knew about 8 years ago she was working there, but I never would have thought she still would be. BTW, she is not in management, so Red Lobster must not have a "work your way up" program as she remains a hostess/server. Needless to say...we didn't communicate outside of me giving her my name and request for our table. (Which she did screw up....but whatev!)
After I was seated I saw him...one of my bullies. :( This short little fucker was a tormentor of mine. (Sorry, I use those descriptors in the most loving way!) I remember when my best friend and I went to Burger King for dinner one night after some school function. Him and his buddies, who all stood at least a foot above him, were sitting up eating. This BK was a bi-level, so we were on the bottom area and they were on the top. All of a sudden he threw an inverted fry box down at us. I self-internalized the message, which read "You need to call 1-800-321-THIN" which was the 800-# for Nutrasystem. I ignored the box as his aim was off since he was short and pretended like I never saw it.
I've thought about that box and its message and that short little fucker a lot in the past 16 years. I will never forgive him for that, I will never let him know I saw it, thought of it, or anything like that. But most of all...I will always remember that someday I may be thin and his ass will always be short!!!!
I, as usual, didn't acknowledge I knew either of these people and never spoke to them. He was there with his daughter, who must be about 4 or 5, and other Dads & Daughters who were all attending a daddy-daughter dance. I'm happy to report his 4 year old is of average height along with her fellow peers and she is a little over half as tall as him. I did smile to myself and when she wasn't listening to him as they were leaving I commented to my aunt, "How can he expect her to listen to him when she will be taller than him in about six months?!" ;)
Of course the fact that all of these daddies and daughters were going to this "Daddy Daughter Dance" made me wonder...what happens if you are a daughter and you don't have a daddy, for whatever reason? Is this really fair to them? I'm not saying punish the ones who do have a daddy, but why can't we call it a "Parent/Child dance?" Or a "Daddy-Like Daughter Dance"... I just think we are placing a heavy burden on that poor little girl who doesn't have a daddy in her life right now, because not always at the age of 4/5 do you understand why you don't have a daddy and others due...
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