trying to become more sympathetic to primitive problems, obstacles

[franksolich]

Okay, as some of you might know, there's a thread in the automotive section here, discussing the dilemmas the morbidly obese primitives face, when carrying out personal hygiene chores.

That thread, and this one, is not intended to make fun of morbidly-obese primitives; in fact, it's quite the opposite.  Nor does it pertain to simply overweight or fat people, decent and civilized people or primitives; it pertains only to basket cases, such as the gigantic primitive or the racist babbling sister primitive.

People, again either decent and civilized people or primitives, can be overweight or fat, no big deal.  What I'm dealing with here are the erysichthonists, those intent upon consuming the whole world and all in it, until they end up consuming themselves.

I suspect both the gigantic primitive and the racist babbling sister primitive fit the usual psychiatric definition of erysichthonism.

Anyway.

I'm wondering if I might be being too harsh, too rough, too judgemental, in evaluating such primitives.  I'm a nice guy, and don't like to overdo things.  I'm wondering if I'm not seeing all the obstacles such primitives face in their daily lives, and perhaps if I were more aware of such hurdles, I could be kinder in judgement.

Well, I'm not really closely or personally acquainted with anybody morbidly obese, so I can't draw upon personal real-life observation and experience.

But I really need to know the hurdles, the obstacles, the dilemmas.

And so my inquires are not unkind.

(a) Does one suppose they have difficulty getting a haircut at the barber shop or permanent at the beauty salon?

(b) Do they really have trouble tying their shoes, or is that just a joke?

(c) How about using folding lawn-chairs when out in the sun?

(d) Does going to the dentist present any problems?

(e) How hard is it for them to find clothes suitable for them?

(f) Do they sun-burn too easily?

(g) Is emptying cat-litter boxes a near-unsurmountable task for them?

(h) Does going to the optometrist present any problems?

(i) Do people get angry at them if they don't speak clearly enough?

(j) &c., &c., &c.

I just have tons and tons of questions about possible ostacles the erysichthonic primitives face, and the questions are meant in all kindness and sincerity, so that I may come to understand them better.

[Texacon]

You made me think of something interesting here;

(f) Do they sun-burn too easily?

Do really fat people complain about having to buy extra sun block like they complain about having to pay for 2 airline seats?

KC

[franksolich]

You made me think of something interesting here;

Do really fat people complain about having to buy extra sun block like they complain about having to pay for 2 airline seats?

Well, I kind of thought the same thing about soap, the other day.

Since they have more acreage to cover, a bar of soap doesn't last them as long.

[terry]

(b) Do they really have trouble tying their shoes, or is that just a joke?

Well, I've never been technically obese or even terribly overweight, but I have been pregnant.

Reaching my feet with a large belly was very difficult and I did ask my husband to tie my shoes occasionally.  When I did tie them I had to do it sideways, by sitting and bring my foot up to my knee.  I'm guessing that a baby belly is less flexible and does not bend as easily as a fat belly might so it might be as big a problem.

[Ree]

(e) How hard is it for them to find clothes suitable for them?

Not any more....there are many online 'fat" shops when ya can get clothes up to 6X

(I know this coz I am fat)

[Servonaut]

I just have tons and tons of questions about possible ostacles the erysichthonic primitives face, and the questions are meant in all kindness and sincerity, so that I may come to understand them better.

I'm thinking, what the hell is erysichthonic ?

So I googled.

Erysichthon

Erysichthon was the son of Triopas. He was an arrogant and impious man who dared to fell timber in the sacred grove of Demeter. As punishment, Ceres sent Famine to dwell in Erysichthon's entrails, so that he was continuously tormented by an insatiable hunger. He ate up all the food in sight, and sold all his possessions to buy more; still he was not satisfied. Finally he sold his own daughter. She appealed to Poseidon, who had taken her virginity, for assistance, and Poseidon granted her the power to change into any shape she wished, thus enabling her to escape her new master. Her father discovered her ability and sold her many times thereafter. Even this was not enough to assuage his raging hunger, however, and he eventually began to gnaw upon his own limbs, continuing his desperate quest for food until he had consumed himself entirely.

 

[franksolich]

I'm thinking, what the hell is erysichthonic ?

So I googled.

Thank you for that, sir; I was afraid somewhere along the line I was going to have to explain it, and you did a damned fine job, a damned excellent job, doing it for me.

[Servonaut]

Thank you for that, sir; I was afraid somewhere along the line I was going to have to explain it, and you did a damned fine job, a damned excellent job, doing it for me.

Now I need to figure out how to pronounce it.   

I could use it at work.

[DumbAss Tanker]

See, I have a problem doing that, because I am basically not particularly sympathetic or empathic for people I view as useless baggage.

[franksolich]

See, I have a problem doing that, because I am basically not particularly sympathetic or empathic for people I view as useless baggage.

Right, me too.

But this is the way I explained it to our esteemed colleague wineslob in the automotive thread:

Well, sure, sir.  I have very little patience for people who make their own problems.

However, there's a tad touch of Christianity involved here.

Behavior--in this case, allowing oneself to bloat into a blimp--has consequences, and those consequences are meant to both punish and instruct.

Christianity comes into it when one tries to decipher if they've learned their lesson or not; if they've been punished enough or not.

If yes, then one is morally obligated to extend the hand of compassion.

If no, they can go **** themselves.

And for the record, based upon their postings on Skins's island, if such postings are an honest reflection of how they really are in real life, then both the gigantic primitive and the racist babbling sister primitive fit the last sentence here.

[franksolich]

Well, I've never been technically obese or even terribly overweight, but I have been pregnant.

Reaching my feet with a large belly was very difficult and I did ask my husband to tie my shoes occasionally.  When I did tie them I had to do it sideways, by sitting and bring my foot up to my knee.  I'm guessing that a baby belly is less flexible and does not bend as easily as a fat belly might so it might be as big a problem.

Thank you, madam, for that input, as I really didn't know.

I thought probably that tying-the-shoelaces was just an old joke, not real.

Again, I must remind readers I am NOT making fun of fat or overweight people; only trying to decipher the mystery of living problems for erysichthonics.

In real life, I don't consider fat or overweight people any less than I myself.  I'm not overweight, but I do chain-smoke cigarettes.  In fact, I keep a pumice stone near the kitchen sink, to sand the nicotine stains off the fingers if I'm going somewhere where "nice-looking" hands are appropriate.

I think it's debatable what's worse, and suspect they're equal.

There cannot possibly be anybody here, or on freerepublic, or in the DUmmie FUnnies, who could be classified as "erysichthonic;" fat or overweight or a hundred pounds too big, sure, but not erysichthonic, as that appears to be a liberal ailment.

Nobody is perfect.

People tend to start declining after reaching the age of 18 years; it's all downhill.

Women who have borne infants need never make excuses for their weight; bearing infants is a hard job.

Men with physically-strenuous jobs need never make excuses for their 26-gallon beer-bellies; working hard is a hard job.

The extra weight doesn't help, but nobody's perfect.

But even if a hundred pounds too heavy, these aren't erysichthonics, just decent and civilized people who have higher priorities in life than staying thin.

[BannedFromDU]

Okay, as some of you might know, there's a thread in the automotive section here, discussing the dilemmas the morbidly obese primitives face, when carrying out personal hygiene chores.

That thread, and this one, is not intended to make fun of morbidly-obese primitives; in fact, it's quite the opposite.  Nor does it pertain to simply overweight or fat people, decent and civilized people or primitives; it pertains only to basket cases, such as the gigantic primitive or the racist babbling sister primitive.

People, again either decent and civilized people or primitives, can be overweight or fat, no big deal.  What I'm dealing with here are the erysichthonists, those intent upon consuming the whole world and all in it, until they end up consuming themselves.

I suspect both the gigantic primitive and the racist babbling sister primitive fit the usual psychiatric definition of erysichthonism.

Anyway.

I'm wondering if I might be being too harsh, too rough, too judgemental, in evaluating such primitives.  I'm a nice guy, and don't like to overdo things.  I'm wondering if I'm not seeing all the obstacles such primitives face in their daily lives, and perhaps if I were more aware of such hurdles, I could be kinder in judgement.

Well, I'm not really closely or personally acquainted with anybody morbidly obese, so I can't draw upon personal real-life observation and experience.

But I really need to know the hurdles, the obstacles, the dilemmas.

And so my inquires are not unkind.

(a) Does one suppose they have difficulty getting a haircut at the barber shop or permanent at the beauty salon?

(b) Do they really have trouble tying their shoes, or is that just a joke?

(c) How about using folding lawn-chairs when out in the sun?

(d) Does going to the dentist present any problems?

(e) How hard is it for them to find clothes suitable for them?

(f) Do they sun-burn too easily?

(g) Is emptying cat-litter boxes a near-unsurmountable task for them?

(h) Does going to the optometrist present any problems?

(i) Do people get angry at them if they don't speak clearly enough?

(j) &c., &c., &c.

I just have tons and tons of questions about possible ostacles the erysichthonic primitives face, and the questions are meant in all kindness and sincerity, so that I may come to understand them better.

     Frank, I think it's admirable that you're going down this path, but the reasons that I have absolutely no sympathy for any substantial problems faced by any DUmmy are manifold:


     1. They tend to blame anyone and anything other than themselves for their problems.
     2. They're generally so weak that they never call out any of their brethren on pettiness or nastiness relating to anyone else's shortcomings.
     3. They tend to dismiss people based on their political views alone.
     4. They tend to ignore their own problems when they opine about the problems of others.


     I'm empathetic toward actual human beings, but most DUmmies don't behave like human beings. Period.

[franksolich]

Oh, but Banned, sir, I already knew intuitively a long time ago that, given the way erysichthonic primitives are, there existed virtually no chance I could possibly sympathize with, or for, them.

But Christian charity compells me to be absolutely sure, not just 99.1% sure.

[BannedFromDU]

But Christian charity compells me to be absolutely sure, not just 99.1% sure.

     That's why I said "tend to," and "generally." Most of them reveal themselves to be unsympathetic, bitter, hypocritical turds. A select few reveal humanity once in a while, and there are a couple of them that generally get it right, but en masse they're worthless and hopeless.

[franksolich]

.....but en masse they're worthless and hopeless.

No disagreement--man, absolutely NO disagreement--there.

[BannedFromDU]

No disagreement--man, absolutely NO disagreement--there.

     There are some who reveal themselves to be off limits because they're mentally ill, and I back off pretty quickly. Originalpckelly, for example, has flipped. No humor there at all.

[franksolich]

Another point to clarify, about what an erysichthonic primitive is, as compared with someone who's merely overweight or fat.

An erysichthonic primitive's only reason for living is consumefoodconsumefood eatfoodeatfoodeatfoodeatfoodeatfoodeateateat devourfooddevourfooddevourfood takeitinshititouttakeitinshititout.....

.....and then by extension, consumeotherpeople'smoneyconsumeotherpeople'smoney
consumeotherpeople'sstrength consumeotherpeople'senergies consumeotherpeople'spatience.....

Just consume, not only food but all the resources in the world including the air.

Just consume.

No other reason for living but consumption.

That's an erysichthonic primitive.

[franksolich]

There are some who reveal themselves to be off limits because they're mentally ill, and I back off pretty quickly. Originalpckelly, for example, has flipped. No humor there at all.

Actually, we moderators had a discussion about the issue some time ago--but involving another primitive, not the pickled primitive.

After all, we're nice people.

The overwhelming consensus was that both moderators and members here are pretty damned good at not picking on the truly tragic cases.

After all, we're nice people, all of us here.

[USA4ME]

Anyway.

I'm wondering if I might be being too harsh, too rough, too judgemental, in evaluating such primitives.  I'm a nice guy, and don't like to overdo things.  I'm wondering if I'm not seeing all the obstacles such primitives face in their daily lives, and perhaps if I were more aware of such hurdles, I could be kinder in judgement.

Let me help you lay this to rest.

No, you are not being harsh at all.  None of us are.  Primitives are far too uptight, they definately need to relax more and learn in life to smell the roses.  And so we make humorous observations about them, which in a way is a type of therapy for them.  They need to laugh at themselves more and we are providing a service by giving them an outlet to which they can turn in order to laugh at themselves with us.

.

[Carl]

I don`t think the primitives have a hard time doing these things as much as they have a hard time not making every mundane little event into something that will call attention to themselves.

[Traveshamockery]

I've been morbidly obese and underwent gastric bypass surgery almost ten years ago and lost a lot of weight - but in essence that surgery has not made my fight with weight, in the long run, much easier.  Surgery gives you a great boost to lose the weight but after about a year or so, it still takes the same amount of discipline and work to keep the weight off.

I do believe, however, that there are all sorts of different people in this world.  I have friends (and a husband) who can eat practically anything in any amount and never gain weight.  If I just look at cake, I gain 10 pounds. 

I also believe that the weight issue is different for men than women.  Too many of us were brought up to believe that our self-worth should be determined by our weight and our attractiveness. 

Just my .02 worth.