Has your spouse or friend ever said to you "your imagining it?" I hate it when that happens, normally with me its when I walk into a restaurant and someone is staring at my obesity, not just a glance but a real hardcore stone stare, the mrs always says "your imagining it" thats cause she knows whats coming next and she wants to be anywhere except there right then, for years now I have fought back and I will gladly attack an abuser in public either verbally or physically for such an offence, and why should we put up with such rudeness from anyone, its an injustice that has to be dealt with, if for nothing else then for my sanity! Just because I am obese, IT DOES NOT MEAN I AM STUPID or WITHOUT EMOTION!

Hi John,

No you are not imagining it, but i would only suggest that as much as it does you sanity good, do be careful about the verbal and physical attacks, as this will only induce further negative feelings, i am not particularly large, but i do have purple hair, and i get that stare too, i know its hard but if all they do is stare then let them, just cause you are not like them, if you were skinny and dressed like some eccentric self styled dude, you would get that dissapproving look, that's just people!! you have a wife that loves you, so hold your head high and don't lower yourself to their level.
i know it's easy for me to say, and i don't know what its like, but a family member i love dearly is very large and hides away from the world, i know that if they had a wife, they would be so happy they would walk into anywhere full of smiles regardless of others reactions, sadly they are alone and not lucky enough to have found that special someone.

In response to your reply, I really dont want to come over as argumentetive but you were right when you said you did,nt know what it was like because you dont have a weight problem, having red hair is a personel choice and can be changed with a simple hair dye, being overweight is an extremely complex issue involving a huge amout of emotions often stemming back for most if not all of the persons life, when I defend myself against people who are attacking me because of my weight its not something that I do lightly, its something that I have had to do during the course of my life to maintain my sanity and prevent myself from depression and possibly suicide, unfortunately or maybee fortunately, depends how you look at it, my retaliation maintains a certain amount of self respect for me which is what we often loose when we become clinically obesce due to the continious negative reaction of other people, so you see this reaction actually keeps me alive and feeling part of society, so when you said " I know its easy for me to say and I dont know what its like" well yes it is easy for you to say and YOU DONT KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE. My heart goes out to your family member with the Weight problem.

John