Fat People

What's eating fat people? Well, there's a big list and it includes President Clinton, according to the fat folks who picketed the White House yesterday.Chanting "two-four-six-eight, see the person, not the weight," about 150 women and a few male members of a national "fat acceptance" group chided the president for ignoring their concerns -- which they find ironic since he, of all people, should know the cruelty people with weight problems face each day."It is disturbing that President Clinton has distanced himself from these issues, particularly since his weight has often been the focus of media attention," said Sally Smith, executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

"VEEP" keeps getting better week by week. And the last couple of weeks, it feels as if the HBO comedy has really found its feet. Baltimore viewers will be especially interested in the ending of Sunday's episode as it sets the wheels in motion for a trip next week that will bring Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to Camden Yards. The episode includes appearances by Baltimore Orioles pitchers Jake Arrieta and Tommy Hunter, as well as former Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer.

Aleta Walker never had any friends during her childhood an adolescence in Hannibal, Mo. Instead, she was ridiculed and bullied every day. When she walked down the halls at school, boys would flatten themselves against the lockers and cry, "Wide load!" But the worst was lunchtime, she said."Every day there was this production of watching me eat lunch," Ms. Walker said. She tried to avoid going to the school cafeteria. "I would hide out in the bathroom. I would hide out behind the gym by the baseball diamond.

The Sun editorial "Getting exercised over exercise" (March 28) makes some good points and then loses them in careless arguments that equate the need for healthy movement and activity with the war on obesity. There is no controversy about our need for more activity and the personal responsibility, along with civic choices, that are part of that. There is little question that doing away with recess and physical education are bad ideas with long term costs that far outweigh any initial savings.

"VEEP" keeps getting better week by week. And the last couple of weeks, it feels as if the HBO comedy has really found its feet. Baltimore viewers will be especially interested in the ending of Sunday's episode as it sets the wheels in motion for a trip next week that will bring Vice President Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) to Camden Yards. The episode includes appearances by Baltimore Orioles pitchers Jake Arrieta and Tommy Hunter, as well as former Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer.

Q: I have always heard that fat people are supposed to be jolly. Well, my wife has been fat for many years, and she has been depressed, not jolly.Are fat people depressed more often than normal weight people?A: In general, overweight people are more likely to be depressed then normal weight people. Distressing features of being overweight frequently include the negative attitude of others toward obese individuals and the view in this country that "thin is beautiful."At the worst, these attitudes lead to subtle discrimination in hiring for jobs.

The Sun editorial "Getting exercised over exercise" (March 28) makes some good points and then loses them in careless arguments that equate the need for healthy movement and activity with the war on obesity. There is no controversy about our need for more activity and the personal responsibility, along with civic choices, that are part of that. There is little question that doing away with recess and physical education are bad ideas with long term costs that far outweigh any initial savings.

Feeding the poorThe poor and hungry in Maryland and the rest of the country are facing a cruel reduction in foods available due to sharp cuts in the federally sponsored commodity distribution program known as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).This important program that reaches 210,000 needy persons throughout our state and has provided $80 million to purchase food plus surplus butter and cornmeal for the nation's poor this year is in danger of being eliminated, leaving only an administrative shell incapable of funding the food necessary to feed the poor.

THE AIRLINES are sure getting bossy. They are dictating to infrequent fliers as if they don't like us anymore, which I've suspected for years anyway.Now they have these new rules:* "The blind, the deaf, the obese, children, the frail elderly, the pregnant and the 'immobilized'" passengers are among those who will be barred from sitting next to airplane exits under the new safety rules.* Only English speaking passengers willing and able to open emergency exits -- primarily over the wing -- who can help evacuate an airplane will be seated in exit rows.

Q: I'm a single white male, 25, and semi-attractive. I am having a difficult time meeting girls. Many times family members and friends have said that I am a shy person. All I know is, having a conversation with a girl makes me fearful.I am always trying hard to meet women, but it's like taking a final exam over and over. For example, I met this girl at work. I wasn't able to communicate on a personal level, even though we shared mutual feelings through eye contact and smiling and so forth.

A recent article in Newsweek said the new trend in the fashion industry is using real people to sell clothes, instead of the usual thin, gorgeous models who look like they'd kill you for a slice of pizza. In a moment, we'll get into why this will never work. But if this seems like a trend you've heard before, that's only because you have, lots of times. It seems like every few years, people say they're tired of skinny, pouty women and incredibly buff, handsome guys in fashion ads - and they want to see models who look like real people.

IF WE'RE KICKING around who has the worst job in the world, my vote goes to anyone in customer relations for Southwest Airlines. I say this because the airline is catching major heat for announcing that, starting Wednesday, it'll begin charging obese passengers for two seats on its daily flights. Personally, I can think of a lot of people who should be charged double when they fly. People with babies who wail nonstop -- I wouldn't mind seeing their VISA cards banged twice. Or people who fall asleep on your shoulder and leave a thin river of drool as a tasteful memento.

The infectious music spiders into the subconscious. You realize your molecular structure has been irrevocably scrambled after you wake up in the morning humming a Shaggs song, humming this exactly: "Oh, the rich people want what the poor people's got And the poor people want what the rich people's got And the skinny people want what the fat people's got And the fat people want what the skinny people's got." Baltimore's Frank Zappa called the Shaggs "better than the Beatles." Rolling Stone magazine named the Shaggs' 1970 album, "Philosophy of the World," one of the most influential alternative records ever.

Q: I have always heard that fat people are supposed to be jolly. Well, my wife has been fat for many years, and she has been depressed, not jolly.Are fat people depressed more often than normal weight people?A: In general, overweight people are more likely to be depressed then normal weight people. Distressing features of being overweight frequently include the negative attitude of others toward obese individuals and the view in this country that "thin is beautiful."At the worst, these attitudes lead to subtle discrimination in hiring for jobs.

What's eating fat people? Well, there's a big list and it includes President Clinton, according to the fat folks who picketed the White House yesterday.Chanting "two-four-six-eight, see the person, not the weight," about 150 women and a few male members of a national "fat acceptance" group chided the president for ignoring their concerns -- which they find ironic since he, of all people, should know the cruelty people with weight problems face each day."It is disturbing that President Clinton has distanced himself from these issues, particularly since his weight has often been the focus of media attention," said Sally Smith, executive director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

Feeding the poorThe poor and hungry in Maryland and the rest of the country are facing a cruel reduction in foods available due to sharp cuts in the federally sponsored commodity distribution program known as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).This important program that reaches 210,000 needy persons throughout our state and has provided $80 million to purchase food plus surplus butter and cornmeal for the nation's poor this year is in danger of being eliminated, leaving only an administrative shell incapable of funding the food necessary to feed the poor.

Col. Astle missed the war, but . . .Del. John Astle, D-Anne Arundel, didn't get his wish to serve in the Persian Gulf war, but he will be helping to document it.Astle, a Marine reservist, asked to be activated for gulf duty.The early end of the war caused him to miss action by just four days, he said."The casualties were so light and the war ended so quickly, they didn't need me," he said.Now he's assigned to the Marine base in Quantico, Va., to prepare the Marine Corps "after-action report," -- a compilation of official war papers.

The first thing you have to understand is that I get invited to very few parties, for reasons that aren't terribly hard to figure out.It's not that I embarrass anyone by lurching around with a lamp shade over my head or loudly insisting that we all play Twister.It's just that I add so little to a party that when the host is drawing up a guest list, he or she invariably jots down my name and then thinks: Why bother?This is nothing new, either. I remember back in fifth grade we were supposed to have a Halloween party that included prizes and a pumpkin-carving contest.

Q: I'm a single white male, 25, and semi-attractive. I am having a difficult time meeting girls. Many times family members and friends have said that I am a shy person. All I know is, having a conversation with a girl makes me fearful.I am always trying hard to meet women, but it's like taking a final exam over and over. For example, I met this girl at work. I wasn't able to communicate on a personal level, even though we shared mutual feelings through eye contact and smiling and so forth.

Attention, fat people!Sorry.Attention, glandularly-challenged people!Some of you are probably feeling pretty low right now because Nutri-System Inc. closed 283 centers across the country after banks pinched its fat assets. (Ha-ha.)How anyone goes broke selling diet products in the '90s, I cannot imagine.All I can figure out is that when the dollars came rolling in to Nutri-System headquarters, the people there must have eaten them.So now large-boned people everywhere are looking for new ways of spending thousands of dollars each year so they can feel even more like failures in life.