...and justice for all.

i need some justice. earlier, i read a post about phunky phresh girls working out. celia, you know i got nothin but mad love for you, and i am not writing this post to rebuttle yours. but it got me thinking, and remembering, and now i'm on a tirade. why is it that skinny women are treated so meanly?! i mean, honestly! this post is not meant to offend, nor to point fingers. but i'm about to speak my mind people, so step back.
this summer at the pool, i got a very nice compliment. it went something like this: "i can't believe you've given birth to three children and can still wear a bikini. you look fantastic."
that made me feel really good. now. here's the comment i usually get: "you are so skinny, you make me sick." is that supposed to be a compliment? if so, it got lost somewhere behind the punch in the gut of being told i make someone sick. i've given it a lot of thought. i've even asked once or twice why that's an acceptable thing to say. and do you know what kind of nonchalant response i get? "oh, people are just jealous." jealous? honestly? consider:

1. if someone is jealous, that is their problem, not mine. am i jealous of sister x's perfectly behaved children in church? *ALL SIX OF THEM!!!?* yes. but do i tell her that she and her children make me sick? i do not.

2. where does the right to insult me become gratuitous? it's that concept of making yourself feel better by belittling another. but why is it socially acceptable to do it to thin women? can we walk up to an overweight woman and say, "you are so fat, you make me sick!"

3. why is it wrong to opt for a healthy lifestyle? i realize i can be obnoxiously condescending about soda drinking and fast food consumption, so i'm working on that. but why is it that in a planning meeting for a church or a school event, when i suggest we DON'T give our children soda and junk, snide remarks are made about me being skinny??? when did my defense become "no, i'm sorry, i didn't say give out hummus bars and crystal light for halloween. perhaps you misunderstood my suggestion."

i realize this post has the potential to create some unhappy feelings. not my intent. all i'm trying to say is give the skinny sistas a break. up until i injured my back, i worked really hard to exercise. and i'll admit there was a mixture of both vanity and healthiness behind that. but contrary to popular belief, thin people do not go to the gym to watch heavy people and feel better about themselves. we go to the gym because it feels good, because we want it and we like it. so the next time you see a thin woman, don't tell her she makes you sick. she may not actually have a perfect life just because she's skinny, and that might make her feel bad.

blackjack, margaritas, and religion

i went to reno for a conference. (if you are interested, it was for AFTB... Army Family Team Building, which is a program designed to link military families to the services available through the army. i am now a certified instructor for this program)

so. reno. first time going. what to say? i love people, i love making new friends. so it made me really happy to hook up with...

jenny and theo. we had a lot of fun. theo took us GV's (gambling virgins) under his wing and we hit the slot machines. major letdown there. i gave it a shot, but when surrounded by chain-smoking gambling addicts, the thrill was dulled. since neither jenny nor i could muster up enough enthusiasm to spend more than a dollar on the slots, we moved on to the blackjack tables. LET THE FUN BEGIN!

i'm no cardshark, but i enjoy a few hands of blackjack. what i don't enjoy is a sadistic israeli dealer named symi. she was BRUTAL! first she was mad bc we turned down the cocktail waitress... it's so much harder to deal to the sober. second, we interrupted her shellacking of two hammered frat boys. they were splitting hands and doubling down left and right, and symi was bathing in their money. add to that the fact that i won five hands straight, and she unleashed her fury. she barked at me for not holding my cards in the proper horizontal position. she snapped at me for not scratching the felt hard enough when i wanted a hit. she growled when my hand touched my chips mid-deal. THIS WAS THE FIVE DOLLAR TABLE! it's not like we were high-stakes folk.

anyway. i won a bunch but left with $2.50. not bad for a single $5.00 bet. but the big fun came afterwards at the sushi bar. we sat down, and the following conversation ensued:

JnT: let's order a pitcher of margaritas. what flavor do you want?

me: i don't drink.

JnT: it's fine after conference hours.

me: no, i don't mean i'm not drinking tonight. i mean i don't drink. ever.

JnT: confused silence

me: i'm mormon

J: what does that have to do with anything?

T: don't you know? jon smith said they're not allowed to drink. WAIT A MINUTE! i thought you married to a brotha?

me: you saw my family picture. you know i am.

T: i KNOW all about that. jon smith let him marry a mormon?

me: my husband is mormon too.

T: WHAT? jon smith don't like that stuff.

me: it's joseph smith. and i think you've gotten some bad information along the way.

J: so you can't have margaritas? wow. how are you different from catholics?

so at this point i have to decide whether the sushi bar at the silver legacy casino is the right place to begin "mormonism 101" with JnT. i clarified a few of theo's misconceptions, answered a couple of jenny's questions, refrained from margarita consumption, and got them to promise me the next time they see two mormon missionaries walking down the street, they'll stop them and ask them a few more things.

i had a great time. i didn't get much sleep due to a hard mattress and a crazy yearning for my husband. reno is a hideous, filthy place and there are a lot of slot machine junkies out there. but the food was excellent, i met great people, and learned a lot of things. jon smith would be proud.