There is this episode of The Simpsons where Marge is involved in women's investment group. They're trying to brainstorm about their next investment and one old lady comments that maybe they can do something with the fact that 'children are so fat these days.' My best friend and I laughed and laughed about that. It's still quoted by us.
It's also truer than ever! It isn't just children, it's people. People are fat. Lots of people are very fat. Some of them (me) and massively fat. And no, this isn't a post about how everyone needs to lose weight. This is a post about how everyone is fat and no businesses seem smart enough to really do anything about it.
Everywhere I go, I'm mostly uncomfortable. Sometimes it's a little discomfort, like having to have the hard metal edge of something jab into my leg because a chair is too narrow. Other times it's deeply uncomfortable because the unmovable tables are so close to the unmovable benches that I basically just have to sit between them. If I'm trying to decide where to go to get food or spend my money, my list of mental questions isn't just 'do I want to eat that?' or 'do I like the service there?' I also get to add in 'what level of pain am I willing to be in?'
For me, going to public places is almost always a matter of discomfort, pain, and exhaustion. Any movie, any dining experience, any little jaunt out to get coffee with a friend will usually include pain. It will also include frustration because I know it doesn't have to be this way. There are places where things actually are comfortable and all these places have to do is include tables that can be moved and benches that are strong and padded. Just that. It doesn't have to be the whole place, but at least some of this would be nice. It's better than those bar height chairs and tall tables that no one ever sits in. Seriously, no one sits there. Well, no one sits there and looks comfortable at any rate.
When I went to the movies yesterday and we had to wait 30 extra minutes for them to clean out a theater, I looked around at the seating options I would have had if I didn't have my walker (which, by the way, was not comfortable. They're not designed to be sat in for that long). There were some outdoors benches that I know, as I have sat on them, really don't hold that much weight. There were also some of those bar height tables. The thing is, they were all pushed up close to the front part of the entry because the theater felt the need to have six billion massive displays of upcoming movies. You know what would have brought more people in than those displays? A banquette as long as the wall that could provide good, sturdy seating for people.
I am so grateful when I find a place that has good seating that I will go there even if I don't really like it otherwise. There is a place in Fort Smith where we continued to go until the food just got nasty because it was comfortable. Of all the ways in which thin privilege plays out, the fact that thin people can go into most situations knowing their bodies will fit has the be the best one. You have no idea how much mental labor I have to do about this.
If I were the only fat person around, I wonder understand (though not be happy about) why things weren't built for me. I realize having 3 bathroom stalls big enough for me to turn around in means fewer people can pee at once, as opposed to having six bathroom stalls and only one of them being big enough for me. But while this means more thin people can pee at once, it also means you have a line of fat women who are having to wait to use that one stall. It also means this is going to be held against your establishment next time one of those fat women decides where to spend her money.
Because it's not just me. Lots of us are so fat these days. Lots of us need bigger chairs and stronger supports and tables that move. Honestly, if your business is failing, maybe you should think about my people as potential clients. Reinforce some couches. Build some banquettes along the walls. Make sure all your tables can be moved. Have seats that are wide and for the love of all that is holy, don't have chairs with arms!
Fat people are a market that needs to be addressed. Even if you don't support people being fat, even if you would rather we all got thin, that won't be happening today or tomorrow. Address our comfort needs and watch as your business grows. It isn't like you won't get thin people in there too. Thin people can sit on the fat people chairs. It's just that the opposite isn't true.
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