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Floating with the Flock
By S.D. Craig
Published October 2001

How many times have you thought something bad about someone who is heavier than you?  Or said it out loud?  And do you realize that this is discrimination, that it hurts, that it isn't helpful or supportive?  No, probably you haven't thought about those things until it was too late.  Or maybe, you just didn't think.  Period.  Ouch.

So many times in my life, someone has hurt my feelings and though I admit I'm a 'sensitive plant,' (my husband says so), it doesn't take much to have someone prick you in an area that they feel you need improvement in.  The key word here is "they."  It seems that either they are insensitive louts or they're busybodies.  All in the name of love, most times.  Whether you wanted the advice or opinion matters not. 

They are floating with the flock, as it were.

The flock is society and the media, magazines and advertisements, flaunting that the only way to be popular, to be lovely, is to weigh no more than a girl of thirteen.  The damage this is doing to our young children, not to mention ourselves, is horrendous.  And floating with the flock sickens me. 

People need to stop this behavior.  I would no sooner think to inform someone they needed to gain weight or lose weight than I would think to murder them in cold blood.  It just never occurs to me to advise where it's not wanted.  I learned my lesson long ago to be tactful and keep my nose in my own business.  Most days.

If I thought someone was in grave danger, I might change my mind.  But for the most part, I try to be helpful in a myriad of other ways and, if someone needs me, to be there for them and be supportive.

Society will never learn if we keep pointing out fat people (is there a nice reason to do this?) or saying to a friend, "Doesn't she need to lose twenty pounds before she wears that outfit again?"  It's human decency, it's consideration of feelings. 

Floating with the flock will eventually mean you're one of them.  The non-people. 

Stay down to earth and love your neighbors, whether they're big, little, old or young, rich or poor.  Wouldn't that be a feather in your cap?

About the writer: SD Craig is a freelance writer and editor of LovingYourCurves.com and was given the nickname "Chatterbox" by fellow writers. At age fifty, Craigs Southern flair and sense of humor give her plenty to write about with a rapier wit and a wacky outlook. Her articles on body image (her biggest passion), marriage/divorce and relationships, family, friends, career issues, computers, the Internet, horses, baseball, movie reviews and writing tips remind one of Erma Bombeck or Dave Barry. A freelance writer who once juggled five columns then got real, Craig welcomes your e-mails and feedback on her articles. Drop her a hello at sdcraig922@yahoo.com or stop by www.lovingyourcurves.com.

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