Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Big Open Hand Slap in the Mouth

I went to visit my mom yesterday at the new antique center she has a booth in and she introduced Dante and me around to all the "dealers". Everyone was very nice and after a bit one woman looked at me, pointed at my ever expanding belly, and said out loud in front of everyone:

So! Is that pasta or pregnant?

Um. WTF?!?!?!? She was basically asking me if I was FAT or if I was pregnant. Thankfully I am hugely pregnant but can you imagine how I would have felt if I was not pregnant and just fat?

What kind of person asks a question like that? I mean, does she walk up to people in wheelchairs and say, "So! Paralyzed or lazy?" or does she walk up to people with mental retardation and say "So! Slightly retarded or full blown Downs Syndrome"?

I wanted to punch her.

I should have said, "So! Your face or tragic motorcycle accident?"

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, you should have said that last line. It made me laugh!

It's amazing the stupid things people come up with to say to or about a pregnant woman. Or about the baby's name. Even after he's born. Anyway...

Unknown said...

I have severe foot-in-mouth disease from time to time, but even I've learned in all of my social awkwardness that one should never ask a woman if she's pregnant. One should wait and observe. Clues like the "pregnant belly rub," friends planning showers involving booties, and discussions of prenatal vitamins or ultrasounds usually mean "pregnant." Things like "Jenny Craig," "I'll just have cottage cheese for lunch," or discussions of gastric bypass tend to mean "not pregnant."

Then again, not being one of those people who coos over babies and their carriers, I don't generally care either way what a person's carrying around the the abdominal region as long as it's not a sci-fi alien or something I'll have in my classroom in the near future.

Jaque said...

My favorite was always, "Look how big you are!". What? Look how ugly you are!! Pregnant or not, no one needs to hear that.

I think people believe our feelings get lost in our ever expanding flesh and forget that we are still people.

inkelywinkely said...

hahah..that answer would have been perfect.

Have you ever been asked when you were due...when you weren't pregnant? I have.

The kicker? I wasn't even fat. I weighed AT MOST 125 lbs, and had HORRIBLE self esteem and body issues. And the stupid whore didn't even seem bothered by it when I said I wasn't. Urg.

Your line there reminded me of my bff from high school. Some stupid popular rich girl in HS was making fun of me for being "crazy" (again with the issues... I have PTSD), and she turned around and told the girl :

"Oh, yeah? Well, you should shave your face off and grow a scab and you'd look better."

bwahahahaha.

Anonymous said...

Another reason to consider getting my tubes tied! The entire time I was pregnant I kept getting "You're going to pop" or "don't worry you'll just get huge in the last month"

I didn't start to show until I was 7 1/2 months and then when I did it was horrible. I got a lot of nasty comments because apparently I look like I should still be in school.

DH and I were in line at a clothing store and some woman actually asked me how much I was going to be getting in tax dollars and how I was going to finish school. I said "Uh actually I'll be recieving £20 a week like everyone else oh and by the way I a graduated from college not that that's any of your fucking business!!"

Did I get an apology? NO!! UGH!!!