I am hoping the t-shirt will give people a reason to ask me the story behind it. It has my blog address on it so I hope people will go check it out for themselves if they don’t feel comfortable asking me about it. When I ordered the t-shirt in the mall, the cashier didn’t say a word when I showed her the design. After she rang it up, she asked for my drivers license to check my signature on the credit card and I gave her my old one… Then she asked me about the story behind the t-shirt!
All little back story. The t-shirt I ordered is bright orange with black military style lettering. The color is significant. Before I lost weight, I had about five t-shirts and four of them were orange (the other one was this one). One 3X t-shirt Michelle’s step mom got me from Hawaii, one 3X Boise State football shirt, and two identical 3X Idaho Power shirts (blaze orange for safety). I also had two pair of shorts I wore all the time, one blue and one green. One day, 'someone' made the comment that I should stop wearing the big orange shirts with the green shorts because I am as fat as I am tall and I look like a pumpkin.
I have to admit that hurt to hear. SO, in honor of my pumpkin-ness the DONT MESS WITH THE FAT KID t-shirt is orange! Oh, one more thing I would like to mention. The person who made that comment...weighs 65 pounds more than I do now.
FAT KID 1 You ZERO!
It's perfect! I'm betting many who ask about it will be very inspired when you share your story behind it.
ReplyDeleteWow what an inspiring story Ryan!
ReplyDeleteNice! For some odd reason, I cringe every time I hear the word "fat" being used and tried to avoid it, but this is a good way to look at it.
ReplyDeleteIt's not PC to make fun of African Americans, it's not PC to make fun of disabled people, it's not PC to make fun of retarded people. But for some reason, it is totally acceptable to make fun of a fat person. It's the last frontier for nasty comments, poking fun at, demoralizing people, being prejidice against, and just generally making people feel bad about themselves...like "fat" people don't already beat themselves up. Seriously, society needs to get a grip. People that are overweight don't WANT to be that way. And why does carrying extra weight make it ok to be mean to you? Me, I guess I am a little bitter about this. Obese/fat/heavy people are the still the butt of the joke. And it's just wrong.
ReplyDeleteDeana, I am sorry that it comes across like that to you. I don't think it is right to make fun of people either. This was meant partly as a way to come to terms with my past and to get people to ask me the story behind it. Since I have worn it I have only had one person ask me about it. He said who is the fat kid? I said you're looking at him. It gave me the opportunity to share my story with him. Without the shirt he never would have looked twice at me and I hope he went home and told someone that he met someone who inspired him that day.
ReplyDeleteRyan,
ReplyDeleteI only meant to say that its the last frontier in poking fun at people. I love you shirt! Everyone should have one! If people read that every day on the fronts of people they meet, maybe they would think twice about poking fun at someone! I'm sorry it came across as a criticism to you...it was meant as a criticism to society.
By the way, you have inspired me on more than one occasion, and motivated me even more. Seeing your before and after pictures has started a flame in me....I'm going to bust outta this fat suit once and for all.
Love ya!