Near Normal?

When I was in college in Lincoln, Illinois, I had a professor with a very droll sense of humor. Anytime anyone asked him how he was, he would give one of two answers. My favorite was "Bloomington." Unfortunately, this would only make sense if you were familiar with the region around Lincoln. There were two small towns, virtually on top of each other: Bloomington and Normal. So when my professor said, "Bloomington" what he was really saying was "Near Normal."

At no time in my life have I ever been called "NORMAL" or anything near it! And for most things, this suits me just fine. I like being outside the box - breaking the mold. I think differently, I act differently, I like different things.

However, one place that I have always hated being different was my weight. I hate that the hostess in a restaurant sized me up to determine if I could squeeze into the booth, or at a table in the seats that had arms. And when she couldn't decide, she would throw it to me - "table, or booth?" I have not had a hostess ask that question in about four months. I was wondering why, and it hit me all of a sudden - they look at me at see "near normal" now - I'm still big - but I'm not the biggest person to walk into the restaurant. And, much to my delight, I can fit comfortably in either a booth OR an chair with arms. So, it really doesn't matter. TOO COOL!

I did have an interesting encounter over the weekend. Someone got all up in my face about having plastic surgery - after I reach my goal weight - for a tummy tuck, under my arms, etc. I calmly tried to explain that it was cosmetic surgery, and I didn't have the money for it. She kept pressing, and finally I told her that if she wanted to pay for it, I would be happy to have the surgery. She just so doesn't get why I have done this - for her, it is 100% about the way I look. (I later checked with a friend who was sitting with us, to make sure I had handled the situation well. The friend said I responded with a lot more grace and control than she would have. Whew! I was so afraid that my irritation was going to come through, and believe me, I WAS irritated!)

Oh yeah, the OTHER response my professor used to give was, "Like paper" - which of course, meant, "Tearable" (read, terrible!) GROAN!