I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because nobody else ate the Hot Cheetos that were stocked in our free snack kitchen. Seaweed snacks were always empty. Nobody had those telltale…

Not sure if this is the best comm for this post, but it really hit home with me, and is getting some good discussion in my circles.

  • Yuri_The_Red [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I knew I was the only poor person at my tech startup because I had the only fat body in the building. Gym membership was included in my benefits. I went half a dozen times before it was made crystal clear to me that I did not belong

    As a (formerly) poor and overweight person, I absolutely can't relate to this. Every single person I met at the gym was very supportive, my coworkers regularly offered me to join their free voleyball/basketball leagues and I was literally the biggest person in the building.

    I understand that a lot of it is ingrained self-loathing and shame and I experience it too, but I wouldn't project it onto other people, even though some of them are definitely shitty

      • Yuri_The_Red [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I'm not familiar with different cultures in US so it's hard for me to understand, but I appreciate the explanation

        • SerLava [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          They're saying that this is in a much less elitist-liberal sort of area.

          Southern California and the New York megalopolis are stereotypically shallow and elitist, while the Midwest kind of lets it hang out, is generally a lot friendlier, and less obsessed about appearance. But even in the Midwest they ran into those kind of classist rich snobs, which certainly exist.

    • LangdonAlger [any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Yeah I would guess it's a class/status thing more than a weight thing. Rich people use the gym to show off their Lulu outfit