The virtue of being fat- a bus ride to self discovery...

[dawoco]

Through our experiences we learn our faults as well as our good sides. Usually we know what our good side is and what attracts people towards us, but it takes certain events for us to be confronted with our faulty characteristics, if not characters.

 

Yesterday was such a day for me. After my lessons I was more intrested in getting home as quickly as possible and was valiantly trying to ignore all of the essays that are yet to be re-drafted and that remain on my desk untouched.

 

As it was around the time most people come out of schools and work, finding a seat on the bus was a triumph.

I remember being too lazy to go to the upper deck, but as the bus was quite empty i found myself a seat right at the back. There old people wouldn't stand right infront of me prompting me to offer my seat, neither would people hover above me swinging along with every turn the bus makes. Or so was my reasoning.

 

I wasn't in best of moods and was trying to make sense of a collection of poems by Keats, which does nothing to enhance happiness in an individual, let alone induce it.

As if things couldn't get worse, i found myself squashed into a corner by a fat woman. It was an uncomfortable situation all around as she couldn't help it and was yet pushin me further into that particular corner.

I am already politically incorrect for mentioning this i suppose, so telling you about my annoyance and my unsympathetic glance shouldn't really make a difference. I was getting annoyed by the second, as the weather was hot and having somebody elses'a scarcly clad body being pushed into you isn't really all that pleasant.

Still, that qualifies as an excuse, as i was rather rude i suppose, in my high and mighty displeasure at having such a person "invade" my space, if it can be called that.

 

Though it is developing into a long tale, the gist of it was that i was presented with my unsympathetic side and the high struck way i reacted, upon reflection, seemed arrogantly out of place and uncalled for. And that was a fault of myself that i didn't know.

 

There has been the suggestion that fat people should pay more on buses and trains and so on, to account for their wheight, because of the space they take up compared to a thin person. Now this was a while ago in the news. At the time i found such a suggestion very harsh and inhumane, and i still do.

 

But as my little exagerated experience shows, we aren't as good natured as we would like to think.Or should i say I instead of we?

 

Though no one would dare say they are perfect, we often think we are closer to perfection, rather than humbly seeing ourselves as we really are.

So what faults of yourself have you discovered and how?

[Jamster]

That I am humbly haughty! How did Idiscover that! uuh through SOL.

 

Respectfully,

Farah

 

PS: You write well! keats!! uum I dislike him.

[WingA]

i found myself squashed into a corner by a fat woman. It was an uncomfortable situation all around as she couldn't help it and was yet pushin me further into that particular corner.

i'd love to seen dat!! lool..

[Basra]

Dawoco LOL

 

 

Your faults? In my opinion, i hardly think you consider what you went through as 'faulty'.Because in order to fault, one has to do something- 'wrong', right? On contraire, you are actually congratulatign yourself on being -- rather politically incorrect.But at least you are apologetic,which i found to be 'humble', and funny.Funny particularly this quote-

 

"There has been the suggestion that fat people should pay more on buses and trains and so on" LOOOL

 

 

Although you have a valid point and i would think that is rather -- discriminitive! LOOOL

 

 

But thanks for making me laugh--anyway!

 

 

PS: I believe obesity can be avoided.No one should get away with fatness.(My philosophy)

[Paragon]

lol Dawoco....

 

What a combination, eh? Keats and congestion . As they say, experiances form us or break us!

[nafta]

uhum ....okay, ill admit. It happened to me loads of times too, being pushed, shoved and plastered against the walls or bus on occasions like those u mentioned. But i think the fact i was thinking in such way, was because it was an overcrowded place and especially if there is a long que, or when it's hot, it doesnt necessarly has to be because there is a little evil you lurking on the surface waiting for the perfect moment to make an appearance.

[Narcissistic-Sister]

<--Offended NAYA! Leave us alone we obese people rock and rule!

 

<--Giggles.................B.A.X. everybody!

 

<--Annoyed and blows her lovely pink bubble gum..

[Som@li]

Assignig special form of transport for those pple would have been good idea! ,they chose to be obese.

[Blessed]

^^Obesity is a medical condition. No one chooses it.

 

 

Dawoco,

Great read darling. Thank you.

 

I think that you’re being a little harsh on yourself. Nothing annoys me more than being squashed in between two stinky yuppies on the tube journey to work. I don't know how anybody who is considered successful be allowed to get away with smelling so bad. Okay, this may sound snobbish on my part, but while some1 can't help being a obese, these rich dudes can afford a deodorant/ shower.

 

But coming back to your experience. I suppose, it's how you look at it, perhaps you feel bad because you abhored her fatness rather than the fact that she was squeezing the oxygen out of ya? Had this been a skinny person, would you be any less offended? Did you consider telling her to back off?

 

 

Personally, I let others point out my weakness in character. I've been advised not to pinpoint my weaknesses to others by a wise lady. Reason being that, most people wouldn’t notice it until you draw their attention to the problem.

 

Besides, nobody is perfect; I don't kid myself in thinking that I'm the nobody.

[dawoco]

lol, i'm glad that most of you have found some pleasure in my pain xaasidiin aa wada tihiin

 

It isn't being hard on myself, or even putting myself down. And i'm sure that if it was a skinny person, i wouldn't be squashed.

The thing that i found most striking is the fact that probably many have felt the same about some one obese...

 

It was a case of trying to see how such a pewrson would feel, trying on their shoes as it were...Imagine the daily humiliation and it was quite evident that the woman in question was feeling uncomfortable.

 

As for me, upon realising this i felt like a hypocrite upto certain degrees, because i have caused someone to feel bad about themselves, and not because that particular person was fat. Although the situation wouldn't have arisen if she was a skinny lady.

 

So it is all about seeing ourselves into a certain light.

Perhaps i'm too analitical, but i found the contrast between my actions and that what i held to be my believes quite intresting. Because i was acting in a way that i myself wouldn't condone of.

 

So that was the self discovery i made.

That my actions and believes weren't in accord...

Hope that makes some sense...

[N.O.R.F]

lol,

 

Dawaco, yr in London darlin, yr aloud to be rude, aggitated, aggresive on yr travels, then switch back to being yr sweetself when u get home,,,,,,

[dawoco]

My beloved journeys on the London buses have taken a turn for the worst in the measurement of annoyance that I had to bring back this topic. In this case though, it is to do with the virtues of common manners.

 

Londoners who travel by public transport will know the pain of our existence are fellow travellers. Two days ago I was running late for a meeting and had missed the bus that would have delivered me in time. Luckily enough another one came in the next four minutes and I was relieved to say the least.

 

Anyway it was around the time when schools have their lunch hour and the streets were crawling with teenagers holding bags filled with chicken n chips and their loud boisterous voices could be heard in all corners of the streets. But it was a scene I was used to and I tuned it out. After all, they had nothing to do with me.

 

Or so I would have thought. Our bus arrived in Angel where many people got of and the driver was waiting for an old woman to get one when Somali teenagers started using the backdoor as entrance. They were in a large group and headed straight for the upper deck. We were al perplexed at their daring and annoyed with them.

 

We all knew what would happen, and it did happen. The driver turned off the engines and told them to get off and they refused. Some went and came back for their friends. When the driver gave up and closed the door, they decided that they didn’t want to be on the bus and used the emergency button to open the door. All this took up 15 minutes of our time.

 

There was a Jamaican man who kept telling them “look at your face, you have no character mon, you have no characterâ€. The white people were looking away in embarrassment and our youth were talking slang with the girls wearing tight clothes and bright coloured hair and the guys with their afro and careless attitudes, telling people “listen yeah, we just goin two stops from here yeah, why u chucking it for man, with ur melodrama, wha’eva u ge’ meâ€.

 

By then I was thinking about those who say “bloody immigrants/asylum seekers, you invite them in and they take over the countryâ€. More than seeing their point, I was actually agreeing with it. When organisations like the BNP start becoming popular, people blame it on institutionalised racism and so on. The truth of the matter is that people only know what they see.

 

How can the parents be respected for their achievements when our youths are behaving in such an appalling way in front of everyone? At the end of the day, the bad things are more evident than the good. So why aren’t our children disciplined and mannered?

 

Anyway, those identity crisis crippled Somali teenagers made me miss my appointment and basically wasted my time. Bloody uncivilized savages :mad:

[pearl]

...dont u just love those kids..

[Laba-X]

"Londoners who travel by public transport will know the pain of our existence are fellow travellers"

...Tell me about it!

 

How can the parents be respected for their achievements when our youths are behaving in such an appalling way in front of everyone? At the end of the day, the bad things are more evident than the good. So why aren’t our children disciplined and mannered?

...Dawoco, I live in those parts of London where you would consider to be the most appaling and detestable - Woolwich! Being a Resident here for so many years and encountering all sorts of disruptive deeds from most somali youth here, i can't help but wonder why our youth nowadays have so much volatility and hostility in them. I have come to the conclusion that it is due to the lack of extra-curricular activities! instead of just hanging around in the corner shops, if these youth are encouraged into some sort of activity such as sports, etc, they outcome would be a more civilized nation.

 

I am pretty sure you've watched Channel 4 documentaries such as "Gang wars" and "Who You Calling A Nigger" where Woolwich was depicted despicably and somalis were described as "Vermin". it sure does enrage you! Our behaviour could unquestionably be exasperating at times, but i remember the times when Somali women were physically assaulted on the streets, spat on, scarfs taken off and abused! those days are long gone now.

 

Also Somali communities and elders don't seem to be doing much either. these so-called communities are beyond the pale. All they do is get fat and chew uncompromisingly on Government dole, how disgraceful?

 

 

Anyway, those identity crisis crippled Somali teenagers made me miss my appointment and basically wasted my time. Bloody uncivilized savages

...Could it be because we were born "uncivilized"! But hey not all are "Uncivilized savages", just a tiny few!

[shyhem]

What a good experience u guys have in london.It reminds me of my days in Eastleigh nairobi,the 9 matatu where all kinds of pple rub themselves into u,damn that was disgusting.

 

Thanks to God,here America the freeways are doing wonders for us.The only push,pull, shove and smell u encounter is all urs, courtesy of u'r 95 honda.

 

Folks in US are allergic to public transport and as such the car is used as a measure of progress.If u can maintain u'r car,dem folks believe u can take care of u'r azz,ofcourse not necesssarily.And did i mention We love the freedom that comes with the cars.U don't have to worry about who is fat or who is terribly and annoyingly loud in the bus.U just worry about whether u hold the fries on the left hand, the pop on the right hand and the steering wheel with u'r knees.