Beyond Tolerance

Last year as I went to the shop regularly to work on the Lurveseat I met a few new people. One of these was an obese woman who sat a lot and did a lot of directing and commenting. I had a negative reaction, which I entirely suppressed, of the usual maybe you wouldn't be so fat if you got up and did something sort. Her partner had the appearance of a six and a half foot tall former football player and was highly valued for his work ethic and welding skills, and took her commentary with a stoicism I didn't know if I should admire.

It wasn't harsh commentary, fairly humorous actually if I listened to it, and over time as we've gotten used to one another I've decided she's all right, and she's probably deciding I'm all right too. I suspect that if you tend to obesity, it may take awhile to determine whether or not other people accept you. I think that time has more or less passed, and I have to allow that being round doesn't detract from her pretty face, which is only augmented by glasses and purple hair and an exotic taste in choke collars, and that she is in fact very energetic and has a properly biting wit.

My entire point being, tolerance isn't enough. We have only grown beyond our prejudices when we have grown beyond mere tolerance and can no longer remember why we noticed in the first place.