motd Saturday Sept 17, 2011

[Guest guest]

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Gosh, I answered a lot of E-mail

yesterday. I like to print my E-mails and read some

of them that way before answering. I never rush the

process. I really like to think about what I'm

going to say before responding to my mail. I mean,

so many of the issues I read about are very serious

and take a lot of thought. Let me give you a for

instance.

Maureen has

struggled with her weight all of her life. Both her

grandmother and mother were very obese. In fact,

she'd lost her grandmother a few years earlier to

complications of obesity. So you can imagine,

Maureen was quite sensitive about her own weight.

Maureen's coworkers would sometimes say

things about her weight behind her back.

She works in a law office and none of her coworkers

were obese or have weight issues as obvious as

hers. Some of her coworkers would sometimes say

things about Maureen's weight behind her back. And,

in fact, some of them were insensitive enough to

make snide remarks about her weight to her

face. Or they'd do little rude things

like...

Leave coupons on her desk for all-you-can-eat

buffets or fast food restaurants. When she went to

the break room to have lunch, someone might say to

her, "Hey,

Maureen, so what are you eating today?" And

according to Maureen, the sarcastic way in which

they asked the question made it clear. They weren'tasking

to be nice!

Maureen told me how she feels going to work everyday

and...she didn't feel

good about it. And you know what else? I could

feel her pain. See, that's because when I was

younger and had a weight problem, I had to put up

with some of the same kind of treatment she was

going through.

I think the people in Maureen's office who

treat her this way are completely ignorant.

May I tell you something? I think the people in

Maureen's office who treat her this way are

completely ignorant.

Hey, I don't care how much book-sense they have

because of their jobs, in my book,

they're still ignorant! (I hope you'll forgive me

for being so blunt but this subject really strikes a

nerve for me.) Let me explain more.

You always see these news reports about women who

say they've been harassed by men at work. And these

cases are no laughing matter. In fact, the man

accused of harassment can get into big trouble or

even lose his job. It's the law, some forms of

sexual harassment can lead to criminal charges.

But it's not considered a crime to make fun of an

overweight person at work, is it? Well, maybe not.

But to me, it's still...criminal! Any

form of harassment or bullying at work is simply the

wrong thing to do to a coworker. Do you hear me? It's just

wrong! And

here's the worst part. If Maureen goes to the boss

to complain, she's likely to be told that she's just

being "too sensitive". Oh,

please! So

then, what should Maureen do?

She should let them know how much their

remarks hurt and that she truly doesn't appreciate

the unkind things they say to her or about her.

Well, I think she should write a letter to the

people she's been receiving those hurtful remarks

from. I suggested she compose a letter and send an

E-mail to each of those people who've ridiculed

her. In the letter, she should let them know how

much their remarks hurt and that she truly doesn't

appreciate the unkind things they say to her or

about her. I told Maureen not to sound mad when she

wrote. But again, she had to let them know that

their thoughtless remarks...hurt.

I also suggested she offer an olive branch and ask

for her coworkers support, not their insults. She

was, after all, working hard to lose the weight. I

think that with those words, spoken from the

heart, Maureen can open the eyes of the people she

works with. They might not only be kinder to her

but to other overweight people they may not have

been so nice to in the past.

If you're experiencing this kind of harassment, you

need to take care of it, too. We're all brothers

and sisters on this earth. And for that reason, we

should be reaching out a hand to help a person in

need rather than putting them down and making them

feel bad.

Life is so much better when you take the time being

nice to others.

Love,