# Being overweight and getting a job.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 28, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707 "2010-10-28T22:12:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/101 "2010-11-01T22:04:33Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> **Being very fat/obese**. IMHO, there is a correlation between being fat and being lazy. So the fatter you are, the less likely I am to hire you.
Not going to argue with you in general, as there may well be a kernel of truth in that ( though I suspect the issue is as often willpower and motivation as it is laziness per se ). But just as a counter-anecdote ( which should not be pluralized;)) I will note that the hardest working man I’ve ever met was a blue-collar supervisor who was easily 350+. Big guy built like a Russian weight-lifter and similarly strong - he was also the single strongest man I have ever met despite his massive gut.
He could be kind of a slave-driver, but unlike most of his ilk he was always respected because he would never ask you to do anything he wouldn’t do himself. He’d get right down with you and work his ass off at the nastiest, most menial tasks. His biggest flaw as a supervisor is he always respected working _hard_ over working _smart_.
He was told by by one upper-management fellow ( quietly and without witnesses, but i believe him ) that he would never be promoted above foreman because his size projected a poor image, despite his demonstrated competence. Despite the front-line, blue-collar nature of the job he didn’t look good enough to be supervisor material. In the end he was promoted when that particular manager moved on elsewhere.
His weight did kill him prematurely in the end ( massive blood pressure led to a stroke ), but only after ~20 years of hard service.
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [November 1, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/102 "2010-11-01T23:52:52Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> This isn’t a valid analogy at all. You look at a “politically conservative” people (not sure I qualify as a fiscal conservative and social liberal) and believe they are that way because they let fear rule their lives and are resistant to change.
>
> But those qualities aren’t a necessary or even likely reason why a person is “politically conservative.” I, for example, am fiscally conservative simply because I think it’s a better way to organize a society. Fear has nothing to do with it, and, inasmuch as I think the federal government is too big and active now, I specificallý want change to occur.
>
> A morbidly obese person, on the other hand, cannot get that way without being willing to let a small problem get big (with an exception for the tiny minority who literally can’t control their weight gain for some reason).
It is an EXACT analogy. I have a fantasy in my head about politically conservative people and I judge people based on it, calling it observing reality. As do you.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/103 "2010-11-02T00:29:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> My mom thinks people who aren’t cooking should offer to help out - wash the dishes, offer to make the salad or chop vegetables, set the table, that sort of thing. Mary never did any of that, and it pissed my mom off. At one point, my mom told Mary that she should help more, and Mary said basically, “I’d be happy to help, but you have to tell me what I should do and direct me, because I don’t know how to do any of these things,” and my mom refused, because she doesn’t feel like babysitting her. So Mary didn’t help at all.
If Mary doesn’t know how to chop an onion, or do any of the other chores, then why is it wrong for her to admit to ignorance and be willing to learn? Mary has other flaws, but if she’s willing to do chores as long as someone teaches her how to do them, I can’t say that she’s in the wrong here. Your mom could have taught her a new chore every other day or something. Yes, Mary SHOULD have been taught by her own parents, but that’s in the past and can’t be fixed.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/104 "2010-11-02T00:31:38Z")
I’m also stymied as to how you can tell the difference between someone with a medical condition causing weight gain and someone without a condition causing weight gain. Either way they look the same on the outside. Saying you have no problem with someone who has a condition causing weight gain doesn’t equate with judging fat people based simply on their fatness. It’s not exactly kosher at a job interview to ask a woman if she has PCOS or a man if he has a thyroid condition.
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### Author:  [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/105 "2010-11-02T00:38:19Z")
Evil Captor–so what’s your theory on how someone becomes morbidly obese? Do they just wake up that way one day? Do you think it typically happens through events that are absolutely beyond a person’s control?
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### Author:  [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/106 "2010-11-02T01:01:21Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> If Mary doesn’t know how to chop an onion, or do any of the other chores, then why is it wrong for her to admit to ignorance and be willing to learn? Mary has other flaws, but if she’s willing to do chores as long as someone teaches her how to do them, I can’t say that she’s in the wrong here. Your mom could have taught her a new chore every other day or something. Yes, Mary SHOULD have been taught by her own parents, but that’s in the past and can’t be fixed.
Well, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know how this conversation went down. Knowing my mom, she probably only mentioned it after she got really, really, really annoyed (she’s the queen of passive aggression) and by that time it got to that point, she wasn’t in the mood to be a teacher.
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### Author:  [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/107 "2010-11-02T01:25:04Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#):
>
> … because you fail to understand that the only thing fatness predicts is future fatness.
To be fair, it seems to me that this line of reasoning could help you nullify just about any kind of predictor we ever use for anything. “Oh, you got a 4.0 at Harvard? That only tells me you are good at getting high grades. At Harvard.”
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### Author:  [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/108 "2010-11-02T07:55:18Z")
> [@Khaki\_Campbell](#):
>
> It’s not _or_. It’s like comparing “a little tipsy” with “alcohol-induced coma”.
the quote was your bigoted term
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### Author:  [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/109 "2010-11-02T08:02:20Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> If you’re morbidly obese, you have a serious mental problem. I cannot afford to hire someone with a serious mental problem.
we have a psychiatrist in the house! everyone pay attention to this learned professional! :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/110 "2010-11-02T10:11:39Z")
> [@Kyla](#):
>
> Well, I wasn’t there, so I don’t know how this conversation went down. Knowing my mom, she probably only mentioned it after she got really, really, really annoyed (she’s the queen of passive aggression) and by that time it got to that point, she wasn’t in the mood to be a teacher.
Makes me think of my mother’s most frequent complaint about Littlebro. He’s a self-starter at those tasks which he believes are “his”, but his initial assumption about any task is that it’s not-his. So, when there’s a task you want him to add to his list, you don’t just wish for it (Mom’s favorite method - if wishes were horses, I’d have a Porsche instead of a Toyota) or sigh at the ceiling (step two) or whine to me over the phone (step three): you go and say “yo, I want you to start doing this task too. I’ll teach you how, don’t worry :evil grin of ‘you have no way out’:” And, hey, he does!
Back to the initial question, sure looks like the weight is a factor. Whether it is a rational factor or not is irrelevant, but we’ve got several people in hiring positions who would choose someone who they see as “normal weight” over someone they see as “aberrant weight” (either too-fat or too-thin). Still, keep on truckin’ is not just the best policy, it’s the only one. I see a bigger problem with the “raising at noon”: I’ve seen temp jobs come up “for half an hour ago” because someone was sick/in an accident/had an urgent and serious family issue, but they were covered several hours before noon, you don’t get those by calling the temp agency at 1pm.
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### Author:  [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/111 "2010-11-02T15:14:06Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#):
>
> I’m also stymied as to how you can tell the difference between someone with a medical condition causing weight gain and someone without a condition causing weight gain. Either way they look the same on the outside. Saying you have no problem with someone who has a condition causing weight gain doesn’t equate with judging fat people based simply on their fatness. It’s not exactly kosher at a job interview to ask a woman if she has PCOS or a man if he has a thyroid condition.
If I were one of that small minority, I’d be pissed at the vast legions of lazy fat fucks who merely let themselves go, for ensuring that everyone who looked at me would first assume I was one of them.
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### Author:  [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/112 "2010-11-02T15:40:40Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#):
>
> Fluiddruid–if you found out someone cheated on their taxes, would you give them money to invest for you?
I know there’s no convincing you, so I don’t really have much more to say on this subject, but if you think that a good analogy is
Tax cheat:Financially irresponsible::Obese:Irresponsible in every area
…then I just don’t know what else to say to you. These aren’t even close.
I can comfortably say as someone who has had trouble with weight management throughout my life that managing your weight is almost entirely dissimilar to being a responsible employee.
Yes, irresponsible fat fucks who are colossal train wrecks in every area of their lives exist. On the other hand, most people aren’t complete masters of their lives in every area. Imagine saying “If someone can’t put together a fashionable outfit, I just can’t trust them to write efficient code”. Someone’s weight isn’t shorthand for their work ethic or personality.
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### Author:  [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/113 "2010-11-02T17:01:46Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#):
>
> If you’re morbidly obese, you have a serious mental problem. I cannot afford to hire someone with a serious mental problem.
I hope you don’t have 15 or more employees, or aren’t in the US. If you do meet those conditions, your hiring practices are illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Mental illness counts as a disability.
Do you also discriminate against people with other disabilities?
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### Author:  [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/being-overweight-and-getting-a-job/558707/114 "2010-11-02T17:07:01Z")
I agree that most people aren’t masters of every aspects of their lives, but I think one’s overall physical shape is a big area. To continue the battle of the analogies–the ability to not be morbidly obese is nothing like the ability to dress oneself fashionably. It’s much more like the ability to do other basic things that are job relevant, such as advance planning, meeting goals, and ecercising self-discipline.
Again, I’m not going to begrudge someone being a few pounds overweight–it’s only at the point that it becomes morbid obesity that I would not hire them because of it.
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