NPR: Would You Sit Next to Someone Reading This Book?

Would You Sit Next to Someone Reading This Book?

Kim Brittingham's home-made book cover

NYC-based writer Kim Brittingham's might be that person you avoid sitting next to during your morning commute. At around 250 pounds, she takes up more than one seat. She has no problem with her size however, nor with the word "fat."

But she does get ticked off at the comments and stares she gets from her fellow bus riders. So one day she decided to fight back. She created this fake book cover and "read" from it every day in public for the next four months. Read about the reactions she got, or better yet, listen to the BPP interview.

As far-fetched as it may sound, some people say being fat IS contagious. One 2007study says obesity spreads socially. I'm not entirely sold. What do YOU think?

Pauline Bartolone

2:35 PM ET | 01-24-2008 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Friends don't so much make you fat, but the activities your friends talk you into or out of can make you fat. My weight has fluctuated as friends come and go. It went down with the mountain biking set, up when the mountain biking set switched to trivia night at bars, and back down now that most of my friends are tea totalers. Peer pressure is a powerful force.

As to the fat lady on the bus... I think she just needs a hug.

Sent by Dave Wiley | 4:32 PM ET | 01-24-2008

The study does not say that fat is contagious - it says that there is a correlation between a person's weight and the weight of their friends - i.e. overweight people tend to associate with other overweight people.
1st rule of science: correlation does not imply causation!

Sent by Kate | 6:29 PM ET | 01-24-2008

I have never been so insulted by an interview in my life. Did this woman just compare herself to being a minority because she is overweight?!? As a black woman, I find this DEEPLY offensive. Last I checked, fat people are not being lynched. Nor are they looking back on 400 years of slavery and Jim Crow. In fact, fat people are the majority in this country. This ridiculous woman should apologize for her comments. I'm in good shape because I make a CHOICE to be so. I choose not to smoke, I choose not to drink, and I choose not to eat to excess. I also choose to work out at the gym, when I would rather be watching tv and eating pizza. These are all CHOICES that everybody makes. I would never disparage anyone who makes diff. choices than I do - life is short, we're all adults, and this is a free country. Frankly I could care less what other people do - fat or thin. But I do ask that people TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for their choices. We are the fattest nation on earth for a reason - and it's not because we have diff. genes from people who live in other countries. It's about the lifestyle we live - period.

Sent by Ali | 10:49 AM ET | 02-01-2008

"I would never disparage anyone who makes diff. choices than I do"

Her whole point is that some people do, and some people do to the point of cruelty. And it's to those people she's simply saying, why can't we treat others with human dignity and respect. People are often made fun of because they are fat, bald, or different looking. Pain is pain. Maybe we can all do something to reduce the pain in the world.

Sent by Lori | 9:15 AM ET | 02-14-2008

What about the poor people on the bus that she sits next to? As a person of normal weight myself, there is nothing worse than being squashed by a fat person! They should buy two seats or stand, the fatties.

Sent by James | 7:12 PM ET | 07-22-2008

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