Happy Monday evening! First and foremost I would like to wish all of my AnF family good luck and success on this week's floorset. After day one, I could use a large glass of wine and a long slumber. However, the store is looking quite beautiful and I am eternally grateful for all of my coworkers and for their endless hard work.
Over the weekend, many of our friends went out to celebrate Keela's birthday. I won't get into the details of the evening, but what I can tell you is that a great time was had by all. I can't speak for how Keela felt on Sunday, but I would imagine that by now she has fully recovered. A stranger gave me a rose, so I can appreciate that. I also wore heels, so I spent my evening answering the question "how tall are you" and bending down to talk to my friends at the bar. I am thankful to have amazing friends like this to celebrate life with. You guys are awesome, and I cannot ever possibly tell you that enough.
Now, let's move onto the topic at hand. For those of you who know me, you know that I am quite skinny and also very tall. How, do you ask? I don't know. I have a tall dad and two skinny parents, perhaps I just got the lucky end of the gene pool. Perhaps my slender body shape originates from my obsession with working out or my love for vegetables. Maybe I remain thin because I work so much that I sometimes fail to eat anything but popcorn for days at a time. Whatever the reason may be, I am skinny. I don't love it, I don't despise it; it's simply who I am.
Here is what I have to say: Say something rude about an overweight person, you are automatically deemed a pompous asshole by everyone around you. Say something negative about a skinny person; however, no questions asked.
Agree or disagree, this is my blog and this is my opinion.
My anger for skinny haters stems from a snarky comment from one of the sale's associates at the Ross Park Teavana location. This individual is an all around negative Nancy. Since it is a man, we will refer to him as negative Nick, partially because he is a man and partially because the alliteration is catchy. Apparently, there is some sort of discount for mall employees at Teavana because every time I order my delicious cup of tea the man asks me, "do you work in the mall?" Each and every time that negative Nick has asked me this question and I happily answer "yes I do!" he consistently says, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Now, the first 62 times that negative Nick said this to me, I let it slide. All of you should take some time and picture me biting my tongue, digging my nails into my own arm and turning away from negative Nick in an effort to not stoop to his level and tell him about himself. We all know how much I like my job, and the fact that Nick said "sorry to hear that" like an idiot over and over again got under my skin with every passing cup of freshly brewed tea.
Last Friday was the last straw.
I went downstairs to scoop up Amanda; a new manager of Jesse's, and introduced her to Teavana. I am excited to have Amanda in our mall, and I want to make sure that she has a great experience working for us and enjoying the company of other managers.
Sure enough, there was negative Nick. After we ordered, the question came. When I happily said, "Yes, we work in the mall" he predictably commented, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"I'm getting really sick of hearing you say that every time I come in here," came out of my mouth like word vomit. Amanda's face immediately looked concerned.
I let negative Nick know that I always remember outwardly negative people and I remember having this same conversation with him previously on multiple occasions. He changed the subject to where in the mall we worked, and when we let him know he said, "They don't make clothes for real people."
"Weird," I said. "I'm alive and well and I'm wearing clothes from my store. Amanda, you look to be alive, where is your outfit from?"
Negative Nick tried to dig himself out of his verbal grave but I continued to debate with him for the next five minutes until our tea was finished brewing. I let him know that if he didn't like working at the mall, he should work on finding a job elsewhere. I told him that I knew plenty of people that loved their mall jobs and that I knew plenty more unemployed people that would kill for a job anywhere.
I already didn't like negative Nick, but the fact that he made a comment about mine and Amanda's body was offensive and uncalled for. Maybe Nick wasn't blessed with a good gene pool, maybe he's lazy, maybe he doesn't care for exercise, perhaps he doesn't care to purchase a gym membership or perhaps he likes greasy food more than I do. Whatever the reason, negative Nick isn't in great shape.
I don't dislike negative Nick because he weighs more than me. I dislike negative Nick because he has a terrible attitude and because he had the audacity to make a rude comment about mine and Amanda's body type.
When Dr. Martin Luther King rallied against racism, he said that someday people would be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Why don't all of us take an oath to embrace (or judge) others based on their character?
If I was a bitch to negative Nick, if I yelled at him for no reason, hit his car and drove away, if I tossed my tea on his store's floor and then headed home; then, by all means, let Nick dislike me. Not because I am skinny.
If you are overweight, I do not give a shit. If you are underweight, that is your own business. If you are short, tall, black, white, brown, blonde, brunette, a redhead, young, old, have a fashion style that I don't agree with, if you have tattoos on your forehead or piercings in your face, I could not care less. In my mind, we are all human.
Isn't it a shame that Nick passed judgement on me before knowing about my love for humanity? Isn't it a shame that he made offensive comments in regards to the job that I love more than anything else on this earth? Isn't it a shame that negative Nick offended Amanda on her fifth day of work? Isn't it a shame that negative Nick probably does this to more people than just Amanda and I?
I hope that someone reading this blog right now knows who negative Nick is and marches their ass right to the Ross Park Teavana to let him know that his negativity is offensive and unwarranted. If he ever apologizes, I will accept his apology in my size 0 jeans and extra small shirt.
Once and for all, may we please be judged by the content of our character?
Here's to shining on through the negativity of the world,
Regardless of body type,
Xoxo
