var json_comments = new Array("
\"user-pic\"
Skaperen
September 27, 2009 6:43 PM
Moderate | Flag for review

Would she come back if they first the clerk who wrote that?

Reply
3 replies
","
\"user-pic\"
domesticdork
September 27, 2009 6:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

\"well it's her fault, she should lose some weight.\"

There, now that we have the BTV/fat hating comment out of the way can we discuss this nicely?

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
YokoOhNo
September 28, 2009 4:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@domesticdork:

I'm with you here. If she didn't want this written on her receipt she had many other options:
Not drive
Drive an electric car
not be black
not be big

the list could go on and on.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Moonshadow101
September 27, 2009 6:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@domesticdork: As is common in these situation, you are the only person being a dick here. Pre-emptive dickery doesn't help anyone.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
katstermonster
September 27, 2009 7:02 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Moonshadow101: Do you not spend much time 'round these boards? Often a person who does not agree with a certain sentiment (such hating obese people) will express said sentiment (as above) in a sarcastic manner. It's done in the name of preventing dickery. No reason to call domesticdork a dick.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
metsarethe...
September 27, 2009 7:09 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@katstermonster: The pre-emtive dickery and sarcasm is played out, and doesn't add anything to the discussion. These are way overused \"round these boards\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
katstermonster
September 27, 2009 7:17 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@metsarethe...: And may I add, I think people should spend a lot more time policing those who ACTUALLY contribute negative sentiment to the board than being pissy about jokes, however overused. You KNOW someone is going to actually make a comment about fat people and mean it. Just wait.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
supercereal
September 27, 2009 9:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@katstermonster: Encouraging this type of posting only leads to a long-winded, completely irrelevant thread of comments. It's been played out, and is absolutely ridiculous. These discussions are just turning into a \"preemptively-blame--non-existant-people-for-things-that-they-haven't-said-or-will-say-anyway-regardless-of-your-stupid-and-inane-comment.\"

More to the point, the notes aren't technically wrong. In bad taste, yes, but a completely accurate way of remembering this person. It's ludicrous that she \"doesn't get it.\" If she's satisfied by empty and meaningless apologies, I'm not one to stop her from getting one, though.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
LadySiren is murdering her kids with HFCS and processed cheese
September 28, 2009 12:35 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@supercereal: There was going to be a a long-winded, completely irrelevant thread of comments on this anyway. It's like lancing a boil and I don't think domesticdork deserved the name-calling from others.

Like Katster, I found it mildly amusing, particularly in light of the foaming-at-the-mouth anti-fat contingent we've got running around the place. I'm sure they've already weighed in with comments below but I'm not gonna waste time reading them today.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
katstermonster
September 27, 2009 9:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@supercereal: Meh, I thought it was amusing. There's more than enough REAL anti-fat sentiment to share, I don't mind a joke or two. I also just don't see a point in calling the joker a dick. Say the joke is old, name-calling accomplishes nothing.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
That's Consumer007 to you
September 28, 2009 10:20 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Scatter: Gimme a break anyone, including dumb hicks, that doesn't understand or care by now that \"fat\" pisses off women pretty much deserves the firing.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
squinko
September 28, 2009 1:07 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Areyouagoodlittleconsumer: I think everyone would get mad at being called fat, regardless of their sex.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
MIAMIFROST
September 29, 2009 9:01 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

you can't get mad at being called fat when you are fat. If you don't like being called fat, lose some weight fatty !!


I hate when I see these odebse women driving onthe road stuffing their faces. Thats why you're fat, because you eat too much fatty!!
@squinko:

Reply
\"user-pic\"
admiral_stabbin
September 28, 2009 2:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@squinko: I must be the exception to the rule. I'm not terribly fat, but I am a good 20lbs. overweight.

I'd only get mad if it were said with the intent to hurt. Even then, I'd only be mad at the intent to hurt, not the actual comment.

I'd actually be amused if the situation happened to me and the \"insult\" was more clever. For example, \"balding white nerd\" would amuse me to no end. :-)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
dorastandpipe
September 28, 2009 4:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@admiral_stabbin: Somehow I get it that the only way I can get people to stop calling me a \"fat bitch\" is to lose some weight.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Homerjay is utterly alone.
September 27, 2009 8:07 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@BeefSupreme: I suppose it was inevitable that someone start acronymizing that term...

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
Trai_Dep
September 27, 2009 6:46 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Were I a woman, I'd find the inclusion of \"Ladz\" at the top equally insulting.
I'd also like to see every time that a guy (and trust me, it's a guy) calls a girl \"fat\", they submit a bathing suit picture of themselves, since it's usually the chunky types that are so bothered by someone else's BMI.

Reply
4 replies
\"user-pic\"
tbax929
September 28, 2009 3:06 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Trai_Dep:
I notice this all the time on various boards. Guys will go on and on about how hot or not hot a woman is and whether or not they'd have sex with her. As if she'd want them. I'm convinced guys that talk that way are all fat and live in their mother's basements.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
kaceetheconsumer
September 28, 2009 5:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tbax929 is back from the beach: The same guys frequently post homophobic crap and go on about all the ways they'd be offended and react if a gay guy hit on them, and I always think, \"What makes you think that a man will find you attractive any more than the leagues of women who clearly do not?\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
mazzic1083
September 28, 2009 5:26 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tbax929 is back from the beach: Don't forget those guys are also probably wearing 'NO FAT CHICKS' shirts while playing World of Warcraft in their mom's basement.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
floraposte
September 27, 2009 8:54 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Trai_Dep: If it's a sly poke at the \"ladette\" phenomenon, it's certainly one of the more unexpected ones.

Why couldn't they just write her name down, anyway?

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Colonel Jack O'Neill
September 27, 2009 6:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

\"She tried contacting the manager, but is still waiting for an apology.\"

Fat chance in hell she would get an apology.

Reply
3 replies
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
coren
September 27, 2009 7:10 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The lesson they should learn, apparently, is not to be nice to their customers, but that money is important.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
SteveBMD
September 27, 2009 7:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Why is Oprah so worried about being shorted $10? She's rolling in cash.

Reply
2 replies
","","
\"user-pic\"
GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza
September 27, 2009 7:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

What I think is absurd is the price of 2.96 for regular. I don't even pay that much, and I live in a state which is civilized enough to have someone trained pump it for you.

Reply
9 replies
\"user-pic\"
Aisley
September 28, 2009 2:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza:

OK, so if someone needs \"training\" to pump gas for me, therefore I must be \"trained\" and since I'm not the only one pumping my own gas in my state, therefore we're more \"civilized\" than you are. Isn't is GitEm?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
uberbitter
September 28, 2009 12:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza: In NJ it's cheaper to employee people to pump the gas than to pay for the insurance to let customers do it for themselves.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nstonep
September 28, 2009 4:58 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza:

And you probably still don't tip do you?!? Ahhh...NJ...the state just before New York city.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza
September 28, 2009 3:48 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nstonep: I don't, but when I used to pump gas, I would get a tip now and then.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
gtsports
September 28, 2009 4:10 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza: what a weird thread...they still have full service gas stations in this country?


I don't mind pumping myself for the $2.25/gallon here in Atlanta.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
mater
September 28, 2009 1:34 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza: I live down the street from the gas station in the story and it's always high even though its the least expensive station in the area. Damn California gas prices.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Esquire99
September 28, 2009 1:00 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GitEmSteveDave_ForgivesChris4ThePizza:
NJ and Washington and their stupid anti-self-service laws. Seriously, why do they think that pumping gas is such an intricate task that it requires a \"Trained\" professional?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
thisistobehelpful
September 28, 2009 5:16 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Esquire99: Do you really want to get out of your car in Jersey? God forbig you stop in Newark...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
thisistobehelpful
September 28, 2009 5:17 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@thisistobehelpful: forbid* Not a very nice slip there but it sadly related to the post :(

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
ellemm
September 27, 2009 7:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Wondering what kind of hella-complicated gas pumps they have in GitEmSteveDave's state that one needs to be \"trained\" to operate them?

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
Rachacha
September 28, 2009 2:43 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ellemm: I was nearly tackled by a gas station attendent along the NJ Turnpike when I got out of my car and out of a force of habit, started pumping my own gas. The guy came over and started yelling, at which point I apoligized and said \"Oh yea, heh, sorry, I forgot\". The guy replied, well, it is not funny, you have to be specially trained to operate these pumps, and I could get in trouble. \"Sorry, I forgot, I am from out of state (as evidenced by my non-NJ license plates). \" I got back in my car, and wondered how many hours a day this guy inhales the vapors and how many brain cells he had lost because of it.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
DH405
September 27, 2009 9:25 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ellemm: It's not the pump that's complex. It's the people that are simple.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
gStein_*|bringing starpipe back|*
September 27, 2009 7:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@ellemm: he lives in New Jersey, where it is illegal to pump your own gas (or something like that... they have no \"self-serve\" pumps)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
edicius
September 28, 2009 2:44 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@gStein: And it is a fantastic thing in the winter. I grew up in Michigan and pumping gas in bitter cold temperatures just plain sucks. Having someone do it for you (with lower gas prices, to boot)? Pure awesome.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
psm321
September 27, 2009 10:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@gStein: I lived in New Jersey for long enough (3 months) to be convinced that they either have 0 driver's education or that said driver's education is completely ineffective. In which case it makes sense that people wouldn't be allowed to pump their own gas... if they did that anything like the way they drive they would have fires all over. And to any NJ residents likely to be offended: I'm sure there's some people who do know how to drive there, but not the vast majority :)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
thisistobehelpful
September 28, 2009 5:18 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@psm321: The education consists of showing them where the gas pedal is.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
RandomHookup
September 27, 2009 9:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Decubitus: @gStein: Which is why many out-of-state stations insist on sandbagging around NJ cars when they pull up to self-service.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Decubitus
September 27, 2009 7:48 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@gStein: Same as Oregon, where apparently people aren't as highly qualified to handle flammable materials as they are in the other 48 states.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!)
September 27, 2009 9:31 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Decubitus: Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
catastrophegirl chooses not to fly
September 28, 2009 1:04 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): i try really hard not to ever remember that movie. why would you do that?

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
karmaghost
September 27, 2009 7:34 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Well, you don't work at a gas station because you're headed for great things in life.

This lady deserves an apology, but likely won't get a heart-felt one by anybody. She should feel comforted by the fact that this person probably lives a difficult life and this is one of their only ways of getting back at the world.

Reply
6 replies
\"user-pic\"
Brunette Bookworm
September 28, 2009 2:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@karmaghost: My dad started at a gas station, pumping gas, over 30 years ago. Now, he works in the construction department of the same company, building those gas stations. Starting out at the bottom can be a way to get into a company, especially if you start there young or while you are in college.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nstonep
September 28, 2009 4:59 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@karmaghost: Actually...I've met people in grad school working at gas stations to pay the bills...you're comment is ignorant.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nstonep
September 28, 2009 4:59 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nstonep: My comment using you're instead of your was slightly less ignorant.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Kajj
September 27, 2009 8:21 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@karmaghost: Well, you don't work at a gas station because you're headed for great things in life.

You know, I see people saying some version of that in almost every thread related to menial jobs, and it's pretty insulting to the huge number of people who take jobs like that at some point in their lives. Sometimes people working those jobs are young, still in school, or simply lacking in the opportunities Consumerist commenters take for granted -- that doesn't mean they'll never amount to anything in their lives.

I mean obviously whoever works at this [i]particular[/i] store is awful, but please stop looking down on people just because they work minimum wage.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
wardawg
September 27, 2009 8:19 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@karmaghost: Ahem. My first job was at a gas station. When I moved to the city after high school my next job was at a McDonalds while paying my own way through university. Can you tell me at what point was I in the wrong?

Just because someone doesn't have parents that can give them a $20/hr job straight out of high school or pay their way through an ivy league school doesn't mean they're not \"headed for great things in life.\"

Now if they're 30 and working at a gas station, then maybe you could guess that they made some poor life choices. (Or maybe they just lost their CEO position at the bank and are \"overqualified\" for everything else.)

Reply
\"user-pic\"
nofelix
September 28, 2009 1:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Kajj:

'not headed for great things' is not the same as 'will not achieve great things'. They might sound similar but you shouldn't feel insulted; the former is a description of your current direction, not your final destiny.

It's fair to say pumping gas is rarely a direct route to success, but that's not to say they aren't on any route.

In the same way, a guy starting a race by running 45 degrees to the track cannot be said to be heading to the finish, but that doesn't mean he can't get there.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Brunette Bookworm
September 28, 2009 2:27 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@nofelix: It is insulting, though. These workers shouldn't be looked down upon. SOMEONE has to do that job and we should be grateful that they do it. Would we rather these people who work in lower paid jobs decide just to not work at all because they can't get hired at a job with a better status? Maybe they are working there while going to school, maybe they lost another job and needed this one, maybe they enjoy working there.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
RecordStoreToughGuy_starcommandseries.com
September 28, 2009 6:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@Red-headed bookworm: Further, maybe they own the station. One of my pet dreams is to someday own my own record store. It's not a big dream, but it's really what I'd love to do. I like music; I like sharing music with other people, and I like talking about music. Too bad record stores are a dying breed.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
MisterE
September 27, 2009 7:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The descriptor used to identify this women is truthful, but lacks modern decency. I think a reasonable solution would be to somehow id the women until she could collect her refund. How about a license plate? A big, fat black lady could explain anyone in this day and age. How the hell would you explain this if you were short in your till? But then again, the gas station worker was obviously unqualified to deal with the public.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
theblackdog
September 28, 2009 2:38 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@MisterE: I'm thinking a better identifier would be gender and clothing \"lady, white shirt, blue jeans\"

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
dollywould
September 27, 2009 8:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I never really understood the reasoning behind getting media involved for this type of thing. I'd think it would be more humiliating to be all over the news rather than just never returning. But maybe that's just me. More power to someone willing to call out a business on their bad behavior.

Speaking of, is there any reason the article doesn't mention the station by name?

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
inadequatewife
September 28, 2009 1:39 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@dollywould: I don't know why the gas station isn't mentioned by name, especially since the video panned in nice and close so we could see the woman's license plate. It's not like they're trying to keep her identity a secret.

But the best part, by far, is the newscaster's closing comment. He tells Helen that she's \"beautiful\".

\"Beautiful\" contradicts \"ugly\", which the receipt didn't say. The newscaster didn't contradict or address the \"big fat\" by saying \"Helen, you're small and thin\".

Just struck me as kind of odd that he'd make any comments like that at all...

Reply
\"user-pic\"
pecan 3.14159265
September 28, 2009 12:45 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@inadequatewife: The fact was that she wasn't thin, so he would be dishonest if he said she was. What he did say was that she was beautiful, which affirmed that one's beauty does not depend on how much or little one weighs.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
your new nemesis
September 28, 2009 4:31 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@inadequatewife: Um, thin is kind of equated with beauty. So instead of trying to tell her she isn't fat, he told her she was beautiful as is. Whats wrong with that?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
inadequatewife
September 28, 2009 3:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@skizsrodt: There's nothing wrong with saying the woman (or anyone) is beautiful as is. My point was more along the lines that the woman is upset because she was labeled big and fat (which she is, at least by our society's standards). The newscaster sidestepped the whole fact that she's overweight when it's clear that she is.

There are plenty of overweight women who are beautiful - gorgeous skin, eyes, hair and an ability to dress themselves in attractive, flattering clothes that minimize the \"problem\" areas and emphasize their curves in just the right places. But they're still fat.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
oneandone
September 28, 2009 4:20 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@inadequatewife: I understood what you meant. The newscaster reveals his bias that he thinks fat = ugly, so he tried to 'fix' things by telling the woman she was beautiful.


The clerk who wrote big & fat on the receipt may have just been descriptive (minus a bit of tact) about her appearance, rather than judgemental. He still shouldn't have done it though - there's a good chance someone would be upset.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
t0ph
September 27, 2009 8:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I work in a restaurant, and when someone goes on the wait list, we will often put their name and a description. I try and pair them up to celebrities:

John, blue shirt, Hispanic Roy Schieder.

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
GuinevereRucker
September 28, 2009 1:21 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@t0ph: Right, if there was an actual use for such a description, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not sure it was intentionally offensive.

Perhaps the problem here was that the lady in question wasn't supposed to ever see the slip of paper, and the clerk messed up and accidentally gave it to her.

If I accidentally saw my receipt and it said \"skinny white glasses hat\" I wouldn't be offended, it's just a description of what I look like (probably for some purpose of the clerk's). \"Black fat lady\" is just a similar description.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
pecan 3.14159265
September 28, 2009 12:50 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GuinevereRucker: It's the idea within society that thin = fine and fat/big = ugly.


\"Big fat black lady\" is insulting, and obviously so. It's the combination of the words that goes beyond normal description, and into an area in which it's obviously an insult. Like BluePlastic said, he could have written \"black lady\" or even \"black lady, red car\" (I have no idea if her car is red, I can't watch the video).

Reply
\"user-pic\"
GuinevereRucker
September 28, 2009 5:21 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@pecan 3.14159265: I don't see \"big fat black lady\" as insulting, because \"small skinny white man\" describes me (and wouldn't offend me if I saw it on a receipt). I'd just laugh instead.

And if you saw her picture on the link, you'd probably agree that she is indeed a big, fat, black lady.

Again, not something I'd probably call her to her face, but if the description had a genuine clerical use, I don't see what the problem is.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
BluePlastic
September 28, 2009 1:45 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@GuinevereRucker: Wouldn't \"big\" or \"fat\" be enough? They just had to put \"big fat.\" That's not the same as \"glasses hat.\"

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
JerryMouse
September 27, 2009 9:04 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

What ever happened to the classic rule that everyone was supposedly taught in elementary school (if not kindergarten)?

\"Stick and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me\"

What was written on the receipt was rude, but sheesh - get over yourself!

Reply
3 replies
\"user-pic\"
Science is for girls!
September 28, 2009 3:40 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@JerryMouse: How about \"sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will break my heart\"?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
yentaleh
September 27, 2009 9:12 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@JerryMouse: That was never taught when I was kindergaarten, I was taught that \"If you can't say anything nice about someone, then don't say anything at all.\" In your case I'll be polite and follow my own advice.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
2 replies
September 27, 2009 9:15 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Ok, she said she understood \"black lady\" because she by her own words, is a 'black lady', so we're ignoring that. It was pointless to point out.
But she got upset by Big and Fat too?

Without point of view or context we can't really tell if it was appropriate or not.
Both \"Big\" and \"Fat\" are relative words, and based upon the viewpoint of each person's judgment.
Maybe the clerk is used to or really regularly works around anorexic midgets.
Maybe the clerk has a thing for large ladies and so didn't see it as derogatory.
Maybe the lady is just too overly sensitive and unwilling to face the blunt honest truth about how random strangers perceive her.
Maybe the lady doesn't understand what size clothes actually fit her and wore something 2+ sizes too small (making her appear chunky).
Maybe the lady really was in all honesty, BIG and FAT.
We DO NOT know.

In short, we really can't tell much from this story except that this lady got a sandy-vagina, lashed out and shit a brick (to the media no less) over a maybe blunt and honest, maybe narrow-minded and shallow comment about her appearance.
A comment that is NOT in any way uncommon in the media now a days.
A comment that honestly really only amounts to a grammer-school insult from a (likely minimum-wage) gas-station attendent.

And REALLY, we can be 99.99999% certain she wasn't paying for the SERVICE at the station. No gas station is the HILTON.

//Not blaming the OP, just saying seems like a river of tears over some pointed-out spilled milk. (Milk she may have infact spilled herself.)

Reply
6 replies
\"user-pic\"
oneandone
September 28, 2009 4:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@2 replies by: I find it incredible that you can use the phrase sandy-vagina in the same post you claim to not be blaming the OP. Absurd.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
2 replies
September 30, 2009 6:10 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@oneandone:
Did she not get really upset?
Hence sandy vagina.

My point was that we can't tell weather said gravel was warranted.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
redkamel
September 28, 2009 12:00 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@2 replies by: I agree. While this wasn't a kind or thoughtful thing to do, it wasn't expressly mean either. Its what used to be called \"an accident\".

He didn't write anything derogatoy, unless she isn't big and fat. He didnt write ugly, he didnt write mean, he didnt write anything that was racially negative. If you are big and fat, you are big and fat. If being called fat hurts your feelings, either learn to live with it or lose some weight. Its just like anything else. It was written on a receipt for ID purposes anyways, not entered into a computer or anything even remotely public or used by more than two people.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
BluePlastic
September 28, 2009 1:48 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@redkamel: How would you guys feel about it if it weren't fat? What if it were an armless person and the receipt said \"black lady armless\"?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
2 replies
September 28, 2009 3:02 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@RogerTheAlien:
Exactly. Very well put sir!

@BluePlastic:
She wouldn't have gotten any news attention.
No one throws a fit for being called armless when they are armless, armless isn't as relative a distinction as 'fat'.
But never the less, Roger's response to your inquiry is best. :-D

Reply
\"user-pic\"
lmarconi
September 27, 2009 9:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@2 replies by: I'd be a little offended to see a description of myself on a receipt because I think it'd be a lot more professional and courteous to use a license plate number or name. But at the same time, I don't see how she can be offended by only part of it. I find it a little difficult to understand why the woman was satisfied with the description \"black lady\" and unsatisfied with the description \"big and fat.\" If she is an overweight black woman, then both descriptions were accurate.
I recognize that some people can be heavier because of genetics or a medical reason, but at the same time, I don't know if people should have to pretend that \"fat\" is not an accurate or fair description. If she's embarrassed that her son saw that description on the receipt, for the majority of people who suffer from weight issues, diet and exercise can help. Instead of worrying about the impression her son gets from another's description of her, she should worry about the message she's sending to him about healthy living.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
madanthony
September 27, 2009 10:07 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@lmarconi:

The article has a picture of her, and, well, I don't think anyone will be confusing her with a black Calista Flockhart anytime soon.

Yes, it's tactless, and it's certainly her right not to go back there, but it's not exactly inaccurate.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
yentaleh
September 27, 2009 9:22 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I feel for Helen Hodges, I'm disabled and had something similar put on a receipt when I was shopping at the mall a few years ago. (This happened at The Bay store in Royal Park Mall in Vancouver.) I asked them to hold my purchase for me until my husband could come pick it up, the note attached to the bag said: Hold for retard in a pink wheelchair, husband is going to pick it up at 2pm. Like this woman I was shocked and appalled, I went over and corrected her saying if she was going to call me names it would be \"crippled\" because I have an IQ of 150 hence not making me \"retarded\". I then went to her supervisor and had a nice long chat. Not only did this incident get her fired but The Bay gave me a gift certificate for 100$ and an apology. I believe Helen
Hodges deserves the same and the offending employee deserves to lose their job.

Reply
7 replies
\"user-pic\"
RecordStoreToughGuy_starcommandseries.com
September 28, 2009 6:57 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@yentaleh: This blows my mind. If any of the people I worked with at the record store had done anything like this, the force of my palm hitting my face would have been felt in Macon; yea, it would have been a facepalm of biblical proportions. And then they would have been sent home for Awesome Manager to fire them later.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
HogwartsAlum
September 28, 2009 3:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@yentaleh: Your wheelchair is pink? That is so cool.

I would think that alone would be a great identifier. \"Lady in cool pink wheelchair.\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
MustyBuckets
September 27, 2009 10:37 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@yentaleh: I mean you no offense, as I do know of plenty of idiots that would believe that being in a wheelchair makes you somehow less intelligent than if you were walking in there, but, this lady is overweight and tall. While big and fat would not be my words used to describe her, nor would I let a receipt with any description of anyone go back to them, you being called a retard and her being called big and fat are very different things.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
tbax929
September 28, 2009 3:13 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@MustyBuckets:
You underestimated it. I'm dating someone in a wheelchair, and I can tell you from experience that 99% of people we meet assume being in a wheelchair means there's a mental deficit.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
yentaleh
September 27, 2009 10:43 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@MustyBuckets: Instead of calling her \"fat\" how about using the term tall black woman driving a Cadillac\". (I believe that was the car that she was driving.) I think you can leave the word \"fat\" out of it.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
laddibugg
September 27, 2009 9:32 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@yentaleh: would you have been ok if she identified you as 'a woman in a pink(!) wheelchair?'

you're right...if you are going to use disparaging terms, at least pick the right one!

Reply
\"user-pic\"
yentaleh
September 27, 2009 10:28 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@laddibugg: Wouldn't bother me in the slightest, If I was referred to as \"the lady in the pink wheelchair\".

I wish people would get the terminology correct, I have the ability to pick out the purchase use a credit card, sign my name to the receipt and (with help from my husband) take the purchase with me. Oh, that must be it! My husband has to carry the bags for me, hence thats what makes me the \"retard\". :-/ Go figure.

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
skubisnack624
September 27, 2009 9:37 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Why do we expect so much from people working for minimum wage? These people are crapped on all day by inconsiderate customers who are too good to have an actual human interaction with \"the help,\" yet expect white glove service and ego stroking.

I would wager that this particular clerk probably doesn't know a better way to describe people. I doubt it was intended for the OP to see the remark. Be thankful that your education and station in life afford you better opportunities and move on.

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
tbax929
September 28, 2009 3:14 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@skubisnack624:
Working for minimum wage doesn't mean the worker is an idiot. I put myself through college working in a call center and am now working on my MBA. Are you prepared to call me an idiot?

The view from your ivory tower must be lovely.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
skubisnack624
September 28, 2009 6:55 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@tbax929 is back from the beach: Get over yourself. I am also putting myself through college and working for near minimum wage. I don't believe I mentioned you by name, made a sweeping generalization about all minimum wage workers, or called anyone an idiot. Hopefully someone with your education and intelligence would not have handled such a situation in the manner this clerk did.

If you had read my comments carefully, you would have noticed that I was sticking up for the poor folks who work in service jobs. As a society, we expect service industry workers' to coddle our fragile egos and do the tasks we are \"too good\" to do. And of course we want our Big Macs cheap, so we don't pay them a fair, living wage.

There are people who have no better opportunities than to work minimum wage jobs. Obviously you aspired to something better for yourself, or you would not be furthering your education. Maybe you should continue working crappy jobs in order to prove your original point.

Reply
","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
The Marionette
September 27, 2009 9:56 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Is it me or does it not say \"black\" anywhere on there? It might be towards the top, but you would think they'd take a pic of the whole thing.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
Laura Northrup
September 28, 2009 1:09 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@The Marionette: They panned down on the receipt, so I couldn't capture the whole thing on the screen large enough to be legible.

Reply
","","
\"user-pic\"
incident_man
September 27, 2009 9:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I'm sorry to disagree with the \"blame the OP\" posts here, but there is ALWAYS another way to describe someone than to use derogatory terms---intentional or not!

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
Burning pakalolo not even noticing the weather
September 28, 2009 1:02 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@incident_man: big/fat and black are not derogatory. Please stop being so sensitive.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
incident_man
September 28, 2009 2:24 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@itiswhatitis: I'm NOT being sensitive. One would think that in today's society, with our level of collective knowledge, we could use a little discretion and be civil towards each other! It's not being sensitive, it's being decent and honourable, or are those words lost on you?

Reply
\"user-pic\"
Burning pakalolo not even noticing the weather
September 28, 2009 5:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@incident_man: Let see, im 5'8, black, a woman and I can be described at heavy/fat (since I am certainly not thin). If someone wrote that on my receipt I can't fault them for accurately portraying me. She is being oversensitive as are you. There are alot worse words that this clerk could have put on that receipt.

Are we now a society that is afraid of accurately portraying people? Give me a break.

Reply
\"user-pic\"
incident_man
September 29, 2009 12:54 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@itiswhatitis: This is the last time I'm going to say something about this. Just because it's OK with you that someone were to do that doesn't make it right for the clerk to do it to someone else, now does it? Are we human beings, or are we animals? God gave us the intelligence to be able to mind our manners rather than to insult a stranger, or to do something that could be construed as an insult, why does it seem so foreign that someone insist that we use that intelligence or tact? I don't care if you consider it an insult or not, if you were a customer of mine, I wouldn't do it; it's not decent, right, tactful, considerate, or appropriate. There is always SOME OTHER WAY to describe someone/something, like, \"green 4-door sedan,\" for example. SO what if you think it's ok. If you think I'm being sensitive because I believe that people should be respectful towards each other, so be it.

Reply
","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
johnarlington
September 27, 2009 11:36 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

If they had described me as 'white guy, bespectacled dork'.... I would have been ok

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
TinaBringMeTheAx
September 27, 2009 11:37 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I would have written \"gravitationally challenged woman of color.\"

Reply
2 replies
\"user-pic\"
redkamel
September 28, 2009 12:06 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@TinaBringMeTheAx: I would have written \"rotund female, height and weight above 75th percentile, likely with ancestral roots from Africa or possibly a continent colonized by colonial powers, such as Haiti or Jamaica\"

Reply
\"user-pic\"
MostlyHarmless
September 28, 2009 12:25 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@redkamel: You deeply offend my sense of geography by calling Haiti and Jamaica \"continents\".

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
El_Fez
September 28, 2009 12:42 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

Seriously, this is an issue? Lets run through the descriptors. . . .

Black? Yes
Lady? Yes
Big? Yes
Fat? Yes

Tactless? Probably, but not exactly insulting. Now if he had gone \"Nigress porky momma that needs to lay the fuck off the ding-dongs and fried chicken\", then yeah, she'd have a point. But honestly, someone needs to grow a thicker skin*.

* Full disclaimer: While not black or a lady, I am big and fat. Being in the same boat, I'm not offended.

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
Corporate_guy
September 28, 2009 12:51 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

If it is true, what is the problem? Is the description wrong?

Reply
","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
AgitatedDot
September 28, 2009 1:18 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

I see no problem with this whatsoever.

Reply
","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
PLATTWORX
September 28, 2009 2:06 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

While it was rude, sometimes it takes something like this to wake one up. If this person wrote \"big fat\" on the receipt, think of the thousands who have thought it and let her believe no one notices her size.


He may have done her a service. If she wants to see that 6 year old son grow up, she'll thank the cashier for a wake up call that could have saved her life!

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
RandomHookup
September 28, 2009 1:18 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

@PLATTWORX: Tough love administered by the strangers who work behind retail counters is highly effective.

Reply
","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
nstonep
September 28, 2009 4:56 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

Clock monkeys...if you want to identify a customer try: NAME or PHONE NUMBER. Physical descriptions will always trip you up.

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
your new nemesis
September 28, 2009 5:03 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

I don't get it. Most of the posts I have read here want to blame to Op for being fat and offended. We all like to think that we wouldn't care if someone pointed out our flaws, but I'm sure that if we receievd a receipt similar to this, we would all be upset. Not call the news upset, but not happy. Problem is perception. maybe she is losing weight, maybe she is sick, or something. Imagine if you receievd a receipt that said \"skinny white, sounds gay\" or \"flat chested blonde girl with big nose\" or even \"Brunette dressed like a slut.\" I am going to side with be tactful for the employee regardless of your job, it's not their fault you hate your job (could be, not usually). To the offended, make a complaint and fucking move on, calling the news is a bit drastic.

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
sam1am
September 28, 2009 7:39 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

I don't think big fat black ladies should get offended by being called big fat black ladies.

For some reason our society insists we live in denial that some people have a different skin color or are \"big\" or \"fat.\"

Reply
","
\"user-pic\"
That's Consumer007 to you
September 28, 2009 10:15 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

Doesn't the attendant know that God is a big fat black lady and that she's angry?

Reply
","","","
\"user-pic\"
ScottRouse3
September 28, 2009 12:41 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Let's see her picture.

Reply
","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
menty666
September 28, 2009 1:39 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

It says \"Pump 02\" right on the receipt. Is it that hard for the attendant to find the big 2 above the pump and hand the receipt to the customer sitting there waiting that he had to write something else on there?

Reply
","","","","","","","","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
StanTheManDean
September 28, 2009 3:53 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

Big whoopee dog poo-poo.


If this the worse thing that has happened to her then her life has been pretty darn good.


Now, can we get back to bashing Cash-4-Gold?

Reply
","","","","","","","","","","","","","
\"user-pic\"
savdavid
September 28, 2009 6:17 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

The lady is feeling a bit guilty about her weight I take it (why else would she care?) but I did not know \"black\" was the wrong way to describe a black person. I am called \"white\" because I am white. The mistake was writing BIG FAT BLACK LADY. Actually \"Lady\" is a very nice term.
What the clerk should have written was NICE BLACK LADY or ATTRACTIVE BLACK LADY. Everyone likes to be complimented. Surly, she is not ashamed of being black or a lady?
Once at Midway Terminal in Chicago I had to ask the desk attendant about the lady who helped me earlier. I said \"she was a tall black lady\". I was glared at by the attendant and her supervisor who stopped everything to give me the evil eye. So I quickly added \"who was very helpful and kind\". It was like a magic wand passed over them and they smiled and resumed animation. Very strange.

Reply
1 replies
\"user-pic\"
Katxyz
September 29, 2009 1:55 AM
Moderate |Flag for review

@savdavid:

\"The customer, it should be noted, didn't have a problem with the first half of the notation, but found the addition of...\"

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
meechybee
September 28, 2009 8:29 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

There's a really easy way to identify a person to another. It's called a N-A-M-E.

Reply
","","","","
\"user-pic\"
baristabrawl
September 29, 2009 11:58 PM
Moderate |Flag for review

I love when people call me fat. Really? Is that the best you have? It never takes me by surprise.

Reply
","","");