Yes "joke" is in quotes.
Besides being factually / historically untrue* it's not all that funny, though back in my late teens I probably snickered when I first heard it.
You know what's not funny? Anorexia.
I know right - you're all thinking it: why the fuck is Blobby talking about anorexia. Well, I'll tellz ya.....
At the ripe old age of 62.8 years, I saw my first truly anorexic person.
It. Was. Horrifying.
710 and I were walking Shep down along a canal towpath. It was the face of the person walking towards us that caught my attention. My first thought was: oh, a trans woman is taking a hike. At first glance the facial features had both feminine and masculine traits and I stupidly made assumptions.
The glance felt longer than it was though it was low single digit seconds, but I then noticed the body. The lower half. When someone uses the phrase 'skin and bone' almost no one means it literally.
This was literal.
Concentration camp pictures are just awful to see, but you're kind of twice removed: once by time the other by a two dimensional black and white image. You're just desensitized enough. And usually you see that for educational purposes - assuming the schools teach youth anything about the Holocaust these days.
Even media portrayals on 'medical drama shows' that have storylines on eating disorders don't dare show the actual reality of the situation. They get someone who is just thin enough but still has a good Q rating for television.
Real life is different. It is shocking. You're immediately saddened. You feel immensely helpless to help someone for something you're with which you're not equipped. And you really can't say anything to someone you don't know.
I had to get 710's attention to look but by that time he hadn't gotten the same view I had. Clearly he noticed the severity of it all, but not some of the detail.
And I said I saw lower half of this person. While it was a nice and warm day, This person had on a large and heavy sweater.
While we did see her again, in a seven second look, I did focus on the face. My previous observation on gender was kind of warranted. Kind of.
Skin and bone applied here too. There was no true facial structure. It was skin on cheek bone - or hanging from, to be more accurate. Without forensic training none of us could identify a male head of a skeleton from a female. But we determined the person was female.
While I'm glad she was out and about I did have a second of - 'why are you out here exercising???'. I'm guessing getting out and moving around are positive signs - mentally, physically and emotionally. I was, and am, hoping she's on an upward curve.
The unexpectedness and severity of the encounter shook both 710 and myself. I think it's going to stick with me for a long while.
Just a note: In almost every post I have some kind of picture or a tweaked version of an image. Not today. There is nothing to be gained from searching for, or using, an image like that.
*Cass Elliot did not die choking on a ham (or any) sandwich.
Song by: the Tragically Hip
3 comments:
Deaths from cancer that go to the extreme long term can resemble this, my mother died 8 months ago , her ideal weight was 125 she weighed 70 at time of death .
Back in the 1980's early 90's there were a couple of people at the gym I was a active at in Winter Park, that starved/worked themselves to fatal heart attacks. It was sad to watch.
Nursing an anorexic girl in the 1980s I was astounded by a domestic who greeted her as we were passing with a “ hello fatty”
Jesus..the poor domestic had no idea why she said it
Post a Comment