So the other day I was in Tesco buying a can of Monster energy drink (my latest love) and some sushi as a little snack en route to a meeting and went to the self-serve checkout for speed. When it got to the payment stage the screen flashed up telling me I needed approval to buy the Monster, given the new rules forbidding under-18 year olds buying energy drinks.
I could see two female members of staff on the far end of the line of tills so called for one of them to come over, expecting the one who came to press approve and send me on my way. She looked at me in a way I can only describe as a cross between inquisitive and a bit sheepish, so I was ready to reach in my bag to prove myself eligable to purchase my drink.
Had she asked for ID I would have been flattered. But no. There was something else on her mind. She glanced at the colleague she had been chin-wagging with and then turned back to me and said “you are so skinny, we were just saying, so skinny”. I was mortified. I would never expect a member of staff to approach someone bulk-buying chocolate cake and ice cream to declare “you are so fat, we were just talking about you”.
Now, I am still battling with weight and body issues. Part of me (although a small part at the time as I was so embarrassed given the proximity of other customers) would be proud. But given how hard I am trying to overcome this it just felt like a massive smack in the face.
I wrote to Dave Lewis, CEO of Tesco UK and one of his team responded with a mediocre apology, stating that the staff at the store in question would be given a talking to and that I would not hear any response due to confidentiality regulations.
It all just left me a bit flummoxed. What prompted the discussion with her colleague? Was it meant as a compliment? An insult? A dig at the fact I was buying food rather than trying to starve myself?
I’m well accustomed to the old saying “bricks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”. They do hurt, though. Especially when I’m trying to get well.
I came across a blog on The Guardian about the same sort of thing…
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2013/aug/05/skinny-shaming-fat-size-appearance – (Emma Woolf is the author of An Apple a Day and The Ministry of Thin)
Food (ironically) for thought as it were…
My Recovery Journal 