I took Willoughby (my ferocious 17 pound Shih Tzu) on a walk a couple of days ago. In his cone of shame. For those of you who don't share your life with dogs or who didn't see the movie Up, the cone of shame is a plastic collar that you put on pups to keep them from biting or chewing any areas that need to heal. It makes them look a little like furry satellite dishes. Unfortunately, in my quest for hair perfection even in dogs, I caused both the injury (attempting to cut a mat out of the little boy's hair) and the subsequent humiliation. But you know dogs, they get over it pretty quickly.
So there we were. Walking around the neighborhood. Shamer and shamed. When we turned the corner to see another dog...a GIGANTIC Portugese water dog...staring out at us from the confines of his own backyard. And what was he wearing? A cone of shame as gigantic as he was. And in that moment, two dogs a couple hundred pounds apart exchanged a glance that was 100% "I-feel-your-shame, buddy." I'm not making it up. There was no barking, no high-pitched curiosity, just an instant cone of shame connection.
And it made me think. About the instant connection I feel to all females fat (and males, too, of course). Isn't it so fascinating that, of all the addictions in this world, food addiction is the only one you can immediately spot a mile away? While everyone else may be waging their wars behind closed doors, people who wrestle with fat seem to prefer doing so in public. We wear our personal baggage like exoskeletons. Some wear it proudly, like a badge of honor, while others are walking around with invisible (but cumbersome nonetheless) cones of shame. But I have to admit, when I see a brother or sister on the street, I always want to yell out "Paisan!!!"
I have to say, if I had it to do all over again and had the chance to choose a life hurdle, I'd pick the weight every time. I'm proud to be in the company of people who struggle out loud, who have battled a battle that has left them perhaps more tender and empathetic to the world around them, and whose smile will be brightest when the last bell is rung and the wrestling match is over. I, for one, am looking very forward to seeing fat get the crap kicked out of it.