Yesterday, I was on the Facebook and I noticed a comment on a friend's page about how wrong fat jokes are, and how they just need to stop. A few people agreed with her, and then my friend commented with one of those, "Your mama's so fat..." jokes.

Yep. That's why we're friends. I was proud.

Why can we not make fun of things anymore? I make fat jokes all the time, usually about myself, and I think it's hilarious. Now, I would never ever tease with someone I didn't know well, and I don't think people should humiliate or bully other people (that is totally different and not okay), but why can't we make a few jokes about ourselves among friends?

I think the inability to laugh at things causes problems. I think that some of the really bad things that happen are because people take everything too seriously and don't have people that they feel safe enough to joke around with. And that is very, very sad.

Do I have a solution? You bet your sweet bippy I do! (Yeah, I just referenced Laugh-In. Deal.) Don't take everything so seriously, and try to laugh at yourself a little more. Also, it's good to learn that it's okay to walk away from a situation when someone is being a poo. Kids need to see that not everything is such a big stinking deal, and that, among friends and family, a different kind of humor is allowed, and they need to learn how to navigate those kinds of situations.

They also need to know how to handle people that are just being nasty for no reason. It's a really good thing for your kids to see how you defend yourself from other adults when they're being turds, regardless of the reason. For instance, once my mom and I were in a clothing store, looking for a gift for a friend. It's a small store with no plus-size section, and this saleslady walks up to us, looking all disgusted (this was before, when my mom and I were both exceptionally large and in charge) and says, "I don't think we're going to have anything in here that's your size."

Really. We hadn't asked for help or anything. At this point, I wanted to cry, because I was around 18 years old, and I felt really singled out and embarrassed. My mom, though? Not so much. She said, "We were looking for a really special gift for a friend for her birthday." The saleslady says, "Oh! I can help you with that!" and my mom says, "Oh, I don't think so." Then we walked out. There you go: A situation where someone is putting someone down all sneaky-like, and the person refuses to just stand there and take it, but it was all very civilized and now we get to make fun of that lady for the rest of our lives.


I don't think the solution is to stop making fat jokes. I think the solution is to not make mean-spirited comments to other people that make them feel isolated and unwanted. I think more joking and kidding and silliness would be quite awesome. Just don't joke about really personal things with strangers, and make sure your friends know you love them and can take kidding before you tease them. Ta-da! 

Wow. I know everything AND I can do the Truffle Shuffle. Astonishing.