Do you ever look at something and think to yourself…what’s up with that? Here’s an example of what will almost assuredly become a long line of “What’s up with that? posts”. I’m standing in a crowded mall in Southern California named the Ontario Mills Mall. Now, we all know that many Californians are into the healthy, workout, slimfast way of life. But in this particular intance, I catch a brief and horrifying glimpse of a woman, not less then 275 pounds, standing not more then 5 feet 2, unmercifully stuffed, and pushed and jammed into some form of lycra/spandex concoction. Roll upon roll upon roll of her womanhood spilling out in every manner…What’s up with that?
Hmmm. Maybe she stopped off at the mall on her way to (or from) her gym? Maybe she weighed 500 lbs last year and has been working out faithfully ever since…
If you gotta ask something, one way to make sure you’ll get replied to is to differenciate the threads in the subject line. I’m pretty sure the Powers That Be aren’t going to be too happy with five or more “What’s Up With That?” threads.
And if it bothers you so much to look at this lady, then don’t look. I’ve seen plenty of gross guys think they are gawd’s gift. I can’t count how many overweight guys think they are hotties when they walk around faire in just a great kilt (and besides being silly… that’s wrong period-wise. If a Scot was hot, he would take the kilt off, and run around in the leine-- which is like a long shirt). But they have a right to do dress the way they want to, as does this woman. Tolerance for other people’s faults is a very good thing to have… we all need to have it, and I know I’m not a paragon of virtue in that area… but it’s being worked on ::soft smile:::
Melis
Wench #407, IWG
Wenchmommy extraordionaire
Goddess of Typos, Dark Chocolate and Fyne Ale
I’m sorry, I suppose that when I said there were liable to be a long line of “what’s up with that?” posts, some have mistaken me to have said that I would be posting a variety of “threads”. My mistake, I actually thought posts and topics were seperate and never realized they were one and the same! So pardon the other times, on other topics, where I have used the expression: “What’s up with that?”
She probably wasn’t aware how much she was
offending you. Next time, you should
approach her and politely ask “Hey lady,
could you go be fat somewhere else? I’m
trying to shop here.”
Sheesh.
After reading the “articles” and whimsical writings on this page I mistook it for a light hearted look at life in general. Apparently I was missing the somehow deeper meaning. For instance the article revolving around why dogs don’t (in most cases) get frostbite. Not the usual fare for anywhere other then the Straight Dope. I mean, what if these dogs are feeling somewhat insecure about everyone trying to look at their paws? I notice not a single person, myself included, coming to the defense of poor Shane in one of the other threads, who has been getting grilled for putting up pics of people he loves. I actually thought that the pic of the kid was very cute. But we are oh so quick to come to the defense of a woman with obviously no fashion sense, who would be better suited to an appearance on the Jerry Springer show with the other guests of “I cram my huge body into an outfit that would make Pamela Lee gasp…show.” I thought it was an observation of something a lot of people might find amusing, or at least unusual. I’m sure that the Car companies and advertisers on national television networks are clamoring right this very minute to get this unknown woman from the Ontario Mills Mall to peddle their year 2000 Fords or their Jason-Matic (it slices, dices, chops, grates and mutilates). It has suddenly occurred to me that in fact this is the thread of the fashion stricken and the jeesh crowd, who probably revel in seeing people, (men or women in outfits that should never have the left the shelf in the first place! Next time I have a TV repair man over, I will pay special attention to the grace and majesty of that big, fat, crack running up his rear for all to see in pants that could only be held up by some type of heavy equipment. Doesn’t most people buy clothes that fit? I mean, what’s up with that?
Hoo, I can hardly tell where to start (though by taking this to the BBQ pit would probably be the best place).
Why don’t you pop to the “Sizes and Why They Hate Me” thread, and discover the problem with buying clothes that fit, hmm?
We rag on Shane because he consistently sets himself up for it, especially after having certain things explained to him over and over. That, and, most importantly, HE’S HERE TO DEFEND HIMSELF.
Boy, there’s this guy on the board that just bleeds attitude and “I’m so right, and all the rest of you are losers cause you didn’t think I was funny.” What’s up with that?
[[[But we are oh so quick to come to the
defense of a woman with obviously no fashion sense,]]]
Who none of use saw, anyway, and maybe you aren’t the most objective witness.
[[[who would be better suited to an appearance on the Jerry Springer show with the other guests of “I cram my huge body into an outfit that would make Pamela Lee gasp…show.”]]]
At least she doesn’t let dimwits like you make her ashamed of herself.
[[[ I thought it was an observation of something a lot of people might find amusing, or at least unusual. I’m sure that the Car companies and advertisers on national
television networks are clamoring right this very minute to get this unknown woman from the Ontario Mills Mall to peddle their year 2000 Fords or their Jason-Matic (it slices, dices, chops, grates and mutilates).]]]
So, what, if she’s not useful enought to use sex to sell a non-sex-related product, she’s worthless? I don’t see your (beautiful, I’m sure) mug plastered on cereal boxes or whatnot.
** Phil D. **
“There isn’t time to tell you all that you need to know.” – Jon Auer
Speaking of “What’s up with that?”, someone in our company sent, to everyone in the company (some 350+ employees), a copy of the “Congress about to vote on charging Internet users long-distance fees” urban legend.
Now, we get a TON of e-mail every day. Not only your normal interoffice communication, directives from on high, technical instruction and the like; but e-mails of press releases from clients who need to get copy moved. And now someone is going to clog everyone’s e-mail with some piece of Internet lore, completely untrue, along with an exhortation to write your Congressman immediately. (Like they don’t have enough to do.)
Our company attorney followed up a few minutes later reminding all that e-mail is not to be used for messages of a personal/political nature, certainly not sent to everyone in the company. I e-mailed our attorney back leting her know this was a UL, gave her the link the the Snopes site, and asked her if I should give that info to everyone, and she told me to go ahead.
Why don’t people simply think before they send stuff like this? Sheesh.
** Phil D. **
“There isn’t time to tell you all that you need to know.” – Jon Auer
LOL Well if nothing else, I know how to whip you all into a cyber frenzy…all I have to say to that is “he who has not sinned may cast the first stone”. I have sinned plenty so, I carry a tennis raquet for stones. You’re ALL right…threads on, what was it? Oh yes I believe the term was “chatter”, are actually built on some sort of higher moral value plane. Gee, I don’t know Shane, (or the way he sets himself up) but I don’t hear many comments abouts names like what was it?..“Wenchmommy”. (If thats’s not a set up, I don’t know what is!) Of course, maybe I missed those he came down off their moral mount to chastise her. I fortunately enough have never been on a moral mount high enough tohave to come down from. I must congratulate you all on your fine, fine ability to quote…outstanding…truly. Ho hum…I believe that Suzeanne is right and I suppose this discussion would be better suited for the “flaming pit” and not the “chatter” thread. (Although still no comment from anyone on why those poor dogs, enslaved by humans, living in the snow for God’s sake! With all those humans LOOKING at their paws! It’d be enough to make ya chase a parked car…) I guess that must be in the comments on Cecil’s column thread…I’ll go look and see which of the this threads judgers of moral character has posted there… I must say it’s much more fun to be whimsical from my lower state of moral character. As a person (wouldn’t want to open the can of politically correct worms in this group…) of such low moral fiber as myself, who chooses to ask the question What’s up with that? Rather than become a preacher of the downtrodden. Judge my poor, defenseless, low moral fiber…for judging someone else…LOLOLOL What’s up with that? (Off to the bar-b-q pit to commiserate with those that flame…)
Sheesh! I know I’m gonna catch it but I gotta go with Artist on this one. I don’t go around talking about it mind you but I have seen those people who look like they don’t own a mirror. INSIDE I’m thinking “whats up with that?” Hey, I’ve put on things in the privacy of my own home and grossed myself out. I don’t intentionally do it to the world. As far as Shane goes,we do pick on him. Don’t pretty it up. It’s fun and we’ve pretty much all had a shot at it. Theres lots of times I see people driving who have absolutley no clue and I’m wondering “whats up with that”
Kathy
Gimme a break you KNOW you thought it too!
Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. LOL The header for this section of the straight dope as entered by Lynn…Thanx Rebel, I just knew that I couldn’t be the only honest person on the Internet. I live in horror of examining a message board with the header “Completely Politically Correct Stuff I Must Share”…Holy smoke what kind of responses would be found there? It would be the “I can be more rightous than you can” thread…I mean What’s up with that?..
<< LOLOLOL >>
Aaaaggghhh!
What does laugh out loud out loud out loud mean? What’s up with that?
Doesn’t anyone use paragraph breaks anymore? What’s up with that?
Oh, and …
Yeah, well, and if you’re looking for chiseled Adonises (Adonii?) and ethereal beauties at a Renaissance Festival, then thou up the tree most wrong doth barkest, or something.
Anyway, back to topic … the overweight woman you saw wearing spandex PROBABLY was doing it simply because it was more comfortable, not because she was trying to fit someone’s aesthetic.
Let me tell ya, I go up and down the weight scales faster than a whore’s drawers, and there’s nothing in the world so irritating as having to re-hike my ‘fat pants’ every ten feet, belt or no. I’m more body-shamed than your average Joe, so I’m not about to switch my jeans, jackets or suits for sweats and tshirts, but I can sure understand the temptation to give in and buy the body-hugging clothes.
As for why she “wasn’t thinking” when she got dressed … come on, what’s up with the way you dress? Or I dress? I guarantee you, no matter how you look, you’re irritating someone.
Like all these freakin’ cowboys around town here … grrrrrrrr.
-An epistle most prosaic, courtesy of Calamity Jon.
ape-law.com
That’s what I said though Jon. Who cares? I have 4 (count 'em) different sizes of jeans in my closet and the probablities are I’ll wear 'em all in the next 6 mos. Some people really don’t care how they look in public. "skay with me. Doesn’t stop me from thinking “Geez Louise!” I saw a lady at the grocery store at 11:00 a.m. in the morning and she was wearing gold lame. I’m sorry, on the inside I was laughing my butt off! I’m not mean. I didn’t laugh and point at her but I was laughing. I think this is really all this guy is saying. We all THINK it, the nice ones among us just don’t SAY it. Biiiig difference.
Kathy
LOL…Gold lame…in the grocery store in the morning! Now THAT’S funny! As for “As for why she ‘wasn’t thinking’ when she got dressed … come on, what’s up with the way you dress?” Hmmmm let me see…after reviewing all posts I find nary a word surrounding “she wasn’t thinking”. Of course I must whole heartedly get behind Jon’s train of thought there…he’s right…she wasn’t thinking. Of course on the rest of his opinion, the train of thought is derailed. Hmmmm, I don’t write very well in thee’s or thou’s or other such 18th century garble…(doesn’t seem to translate well digitally)…but I’m all for someone with enough intelligence to do so. So I tip my hat to Jon on his cryptic prose manner of script. As for my lack of indented paragraphs…heheheheheh…We must preserve bandwith…Anyone who can scribble in digitized 18th century word I’m certain can decipher a paragraph. As for my manner of dress…hmmmm…well I wear clothes that fit that usually match. I try not to wear gold lame in the morning at the store. (Unless of course, it’s a verrrrry special occassion). And as a matter of fact on Sunday at the Academy Awards I thought I might wear a Perry Ellis Tuxedo. (Nice, tasteful, and of course, rented). The rest of the time you are right, I probably piss someone off. Jeans and a button down shirt I’m sure pisses off someone somewhere. But it’s still America, and I would still defend their right to post posts just like Jon and the Wench with the affinity for chocolate, and Shane, and the Rebel. Because NOBODY loses freedom of speech in my book…If anyone tries to take it away… What’s up with that?
[[Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share. LOL The header for this section of the straight dope as entered by Lynn…]] TheArtist
I moderate this section. I didn’t set up this MB, I only moderate part of it.
As for the woman you saw, perhaps she was comfortable in her outfit. Or perhaps that was the only thing she could find that she could fit into. As other people said, don’t look.
Lynn the Packrat
Jon:
Of course, I’m not. You pay to get in, you can have nearly anything that you want on. I’ve seen Viking dudes, Klingons, Xenas (6 different ones in the same day… honest!), Muskateers, GothKeeds, and any and all people at the Faire I go to. And hey. They are dressed, they made an effort, they are having fun, they paid over $15 a head to get in the gate… Good for them. I’m just leveling the playing field with the fact that there are men as well as women out there who might wear something that doesn’t quite agree with another’s taste.
theArtist
:::serene smile:::: hey. whatever. I’m not perfect, and I don’t expect others to be. If you don’t know the story behind my sig, you have a choice. You can ask, or you can make fun of it without knowing “what’s up with that”. And I have the choice whether to let you affect me, on here, and when I log off my ISP. :::Shrug::: I’m choosing to let you make the next move, cause I have lots of neat (and not so neat…) things in my life to let some dude I’ll never meet bother me.
Melis-- Do not read beauty magazines; they will only make you feel ugly.
Wench #407, IWG
Wenchmommy extraordionaire
Goddess of Typos, Dark Chocolate and Fyne Ale
Hmmmm…That’s funny, I only read one post Shane made in response to what people were saying about his pics being posted, and I found it easy to understand why he was doing it. Yet he was setting himself up. You sig with a line about being a wenchmommy and wonder why I would ask…I have a dictionary…I looked up wench…seems self-explanatory to me. Although not you, I would pause to wonder why you would use such a flagerently disdainful term about ones own self. I go into that further but I would get thumped for not appreciating your feelings and that somehow inside there has always been a little wench crying to come out, and how thoughtless it would be of me to expose the term for how degredating it actually is. And if you choose to associate yourself with with ladies (in this case a very loose term) mostly interned in positions of slave servitude (I’m sure the husband and kids appreciate THAT reference) and further yet associated with low price prostitutes in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Don’t know why anyone would associate themselves with those definitions but HEY!) Hmmmm, I guess now you’ll tell me why you choose those particular terms to describe yourself, although I’m not sure I want to know. Happily, that is the nature of message boards…to post messages and replies. 1st amendment and all that. Sorry Lynn I guess I just figured the moderator set the topic. Anyhow the topic I believe is the same…irregardless of who chose it, Mindless, Pointless, Stuff I Must Share. I, of course, am self admittedly at least as equally mindless and pointless as the rest of the crowd here. My position must stand though…It would escape why anyone would think that an outfit as tight as spandex, so overstuffed that rolls are beginning to protrude above and beyond their fill, could possibly even imagine that as being comfortable. Hmmm maybe shes a masochist, she likes pain…maybe she’s a sadist, inflicting pain on others. I mean in the middle of one of Southern Californias biggest malls in some “one size fits most” (except her) neon purple “hey look at me if you dare” outfit that would make the gals working in Victoria’s Secret blush at the thought. I suppose that those chastising me have never looked upon someone wearing an outfit…male or female and thought What’s up with that? Never seen a pants made for floods, or pocket protectors. Never seen clothes that clash horribly. Never seen dresses too short, or shoes to weird, or hair too many colors, or tattoos on faces and thought…what’s up with that? What I find interesting though is that I have NEVER said that people don’t have the right to dress as they want or color their hair as they like, or tattoo as they like (as a matter of fact I design tattoos, I just don’t have any on my body.) Ithink what’s getting lost here is that it seems like everyone is willing to jump on me about what I might say about her right to wear it. (Which I havenever said she shouldn’t). It’s ok for her to wear what SHE likes where she likes…I support it. Equally it is MY right to comment on it. (Unless of course you ask many in THIS crowd). LOLOLOL (That would be laugh out loud out loud out loud! When something is especially funny. I chastise lots of things equally…I mentioned the tv repair guy with his disgusting butt crack and yet wjere was his defense? It should be his right to expose himself right?..yet no support for him. Interestingly enough we have something said about bronzed adonis’s being or thinking that they are God’s gift to women…I can’t say as I’ve ever met an adonis (Of course that being a being from Mount Olympus…a gods gift anyway. I wouldn’t choose that term…but you seem to on one hand think it fits as a description and then state flatly that it doesn’t. I don’t know, I wasn’t there, and have no idea why you would refer to anyone as being a god bronzed or not). I was talking about a gal in a mall and a tv repairman and certainly not about Greek (or is that geek) gods. Damn, is this long enough…doesn’t he ever get tired of typing? Heheheheheh…What’s up with that?
Oh and by the way…magazines don’t make you feel ugly, you make you feel ugly. (Magazines shouldn’t have nearly that much power over your life…maybe a good book might be in order)