The other week, I started work like any normal day. I actually was having a cheerful morning. Woke up on time and got there early so I headed to the kitchen to get coffee, like I do every single morning. Unfortunately, I was about to see something that would ruin my day and week. I noticed a sign on the break room table asking for everybody to read it. “This will affect you!”, it says. I begin to read the 2 page explanation next to a petition with a handful of signatures. A few lines in and I am ready to fucking kill someone. To my horror, a decision had already been made by our union and government employer to start charging an extra $360-$540 a year to anybody that would be at risk for any future health problems.
“People who choose not to participate will have to pay a monthly surcharge. Staff has recommended a surcharge of $30 for single members and $45 for members with a spouse on their health plan.”
This of course included employees that were considered overweight. And you can get out of having to pay by participating in a weight loss and exercise program. Which of course, will be Weight Watchers.
“In the first year, the screening will involve a simple self-reported waist measurement. For example, waist circumference could be used to determine whether a person needs to participate in a weight control or exercise program. Women with waists of more than 35 inches and men with waists of more than 40 inches could be required to participate in such a program.”
I am livid. What right do they have to force us to make personal decisions? None! It is completely invasive and ridiculous. They are saying that it is not possible for you to be fat and healthy, or even curvy and healthy. It is so likely that you will be sick that you will one-handedly shut down the whole entire fucking state budget with your fat ass. They will also be screening for tobacco, alcohol and stress, with an online survey. Because we know how accurate the information is provided on the internet.
“The health assessment and the screening information will be used to determine steps to be taken to prevent chronic conditions like diabetes or heart disease.”
This whole things is laced with issues. Like the fact like men get 5 more inches in their waist before they are considered “unhealthy.” That everybody is shaped differently, tall and short and how can this number tell you someone’s health status?
You are probably thinking that this fatty should just sign up for the Weight Watchers and stop complaining. She probably needs to lose weight anyways. Well, fuck you. I am don’t want to sign up for Weight Watchers. I am anti-diet and especially anti-corporate diet program. The company has already been making loads of money from working with my employer. I get email after email, in my work email, about joining the Weight Watchers office program. They even have an ad right on the front page of our benefits website. It is against every grain and fiber of my being and principal I stand for to join that point counting bullshit.
So my other choice, pay the fee. Pay the fee that I can’t afford to pay. We have already made sacrifices for the budget. I will already be taking home less when things cost more. I have already missed out on a handful of raises that I worked hard to earn. When my partner is unemployed and we are already deciding each month which bill to pay. After I read the information and signed the petition, I went back to my desk and cried. I cried because I felt like I was being singled out and punished. Just another person telling me that I was not human and that there was something horribly wrong with me. That each pound I carried on my body would cost me $1. Because of a number and the space I occupied, I would have to pay a fee. My body is beautiful and mine. It is not for anybody, especially my employer, to decide if it is healthy and what I should do with it. That decision is mine.
This online assessment is going to take my measurements and use poor statistics and diet program funded statistics and I guarantee, the result will be that I am at risk and unhealthy. That I am morbidly obese and death fat. Yes, I am 300 lbs and 5’9”. I am vegetarian, make healthy choices as well as some unhealthy ones. Which again, are my fucking decisions. I do not have issues with food or overeating that I cannot control. I am not diabetic and do not have high blood pressure. I do not pound back donuts and hamburgers from morning to night. Even if I was, what I do on my own time, outside of work is not for my employer to control.
And how far are going to take this shit? A woman will have to pay extra because she could get pregnant and cost health insurance more money. Your race and sexual orientation is potentially vulnerable to certain diseases- pay more! But they couldn’t do that because those are protected classes from discrimination, while weight is not. Even though it is equally hurtful and I feel just as violated. So people that say that the fatties aren’t allowed to compare themselves, this is why. Because I have to walk into work knowing that I am going to be treated differently because of who I am. Because every time I go shopping or into public, people look at me like I should be embarrassed of myself.
“Workers enrolling for health care will have to electronically “sign” an agreement committing themselves and their spouses or domestic partners to participation.”
Soon, I will have to make a decision. Pay the money that I can’t afford to pay or agree to try and lose weight, not because I want to but because someone else does. I can barely bring myself to go to work. I am completely stressed out about this. I am bitter and feel an unmeasurable amount of hate towards the union and employer that is supposed to support me and provide me security. This will be what cost them money. I will more likely have to go to the doctor for a stress-related symptom or will have to look for another job - because I am forced to take part in a initiative that is supposed to make me healthier.
If you see a similar idea proposed in your state or by your employer, please vote against it. Even if it isn’t going to affect you. Please consider the burden and humiliation that your coworkers or neighbors will be subjected to. Reconsider what you think you know about people that are fat.
If you are a fatty reading this, I hope you reblog this and stand up for our right to be treated fairly and with respect.
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$300 for being 300 pounds?
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