There’s being mean and there’s what people did to Chris Christie in the guise of gift giving. I’m not a fan of the guy or the party he calls his own, but I’m not going to go out of my way to slight him due to his weight problem. I’ll make a joke and go about my day.
Several people took it to the next level by sending Christie some reading material to “help” him along to lose some weight. From True Jersey:
Christie’s office has kept track of more than 1,100 gifts he’s received in his official capacity since taking office. The records show that gift-givers have seen fit to shower the governor with virtually every diet book, CD, DVD and weight loss kit available.
Of about 600 books presented to Christie as gifts, 77 were about the topics of diet, exercise, bariatric surgery or self-help weight loss.
Look, I might’ve spoke quickly on this being out of cruelty. I’m a pretty grim person in my day to day life, so I automatically jump to the negative. Maybe people thought they were being helpful? It’s never a good idea to give a gift about weight loss and it’s only acceptable if someone has explicitly said they’d like it as a gift. Christie is on record as saying his weight problem is a private issue, so sending him weight loss kits and diet books isn’t the right avenue:
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that even Christie’s supporters would send him diet books,” said Kate Harding, the author of the bestselling “Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere.”
“The books could be coming from well-meaning but thoughtless people, or from people who have recently lost weight and are proselytizing with the zeal of a convert, or from people who simply believe, probably correctly, that Americans won’t elect a fat president,” Harding said. “Everybody thinks it’s their business…
“We live in a world where we are encouraged to speak our mind, and it can encourage us to go too far,” said Post, adding, “Sending someone diet books is going too far.”
I’m sure I’ve said plenty of horrible things about the guy in the past. Maybe even on this site. So, I’m not really in any place to lecture someone on what they should do in reference to the New Jersey governor. I know I wouldn’t want f*cking diet books as a gift, ever. I’d rather get socks. You can never have enough socks.
(Via True Jersey)