Boy, Are You Skinny!

OK… this is one of my pet peeves and I will take a moment to sound off about it.

In this weight-conscious exterior directed society that we live in, weight is often the topic of conversation.  However, people don’t realize that comments about weight can cut both ways.

There is no one in their right mind who would walk up to a man, woman or child, look them up and down and say… "Boy, have you put on a lot of weight!”  Hands down, we all know that this is inappropriate and wouldn’t, if we had a brain in our heads, say this.

However, I have personally found people have no hesitation to go up to a person who is thin and say, “Boy, are you skinny!”  How on Earth can they think that this is not offensive?  After my knee surgery, due to the surgery and the medications that I was taking, I lost 13 pounds.  That might not seem like a lot of weight, but on my smallish frame, it was a lot.  I can’t count the number of times that “friends” and associates have come up to me here lately and say how thin I look.  When I explain my situation, I am told that I am so lucky that I have lost all this weight and if I needed some pounds that I could borrow some of theirs…ha ha ha!

Apparently, they had recently had an extra dose of insensitivity, cuz I didn’t find any of their comments either supportive or a tad bit funny. 

Having said this, although allegedly underweight, I now feel a bit better.  Your words have power, and the impact can linger long after you have said them.

“The tongue has no bones but is strong enough to break a heart.  So be careful with your words.”