Back from the in-laws'

[dancingsinging]

I am so tired, and I can't believe there is no weekend after this! On the bright side, I only had to spend one dinner with the step-mother-in-law who seems to detest my very me-ness. (My favorite comment from her at that dinner: "That's a very large party. In more ways than one!") And the step-father-in-law who says horrible racist, narrow-minded, rude stuff? Well, this time, instead of politely changing the subject or saying noncommittal things and hoping he would eventually wind down, I just decided to go ahead and say what I thought. Choice comments of mine:
- "well, if you don't recognize (your) privilege, or you don't care, then there's nothing to say in this conversation" (this in response to him complaining that a white kid with a better GPA might get rejected from a school because a person of color got the spot instead)
- "maybe I think /your/ ideas are stupid" (in response to him saying "that's stupid" in the middle of one of my thoughts)

It was cool. I hated him a lot less when I felt like I could just say what I thought. And he actually seemed to listen to some of what I said about the benefits of a progressive tax structure over a flat tax. Funny, that.

Comments

[serene]

You are SUCH a rockstar!

[dancingsinging]

Thanks! I felt like one. :)

[wild_irises]

I don't get what's nasty about the SMiL's comment; what am I missing?

And go you!

[dancingsinging]

Oh, it was a large party in the sense that there were a lot of people, and a large party in the sense that many of them were fat. And she said her comment all snidely to the side, just addressing my FiL.

Then she went on to examine all the calorie counts on the menu, and picked this nasty-looking dish of a tiny portion of steamed brown rice, steamed veggies, and dry-looking, unadorned turkey. It was from the "lite and fit" menu or some shit.

Every time she gets all fat-phobic or weight-judgey around me, I console myself by thinking about how miserable she is making herself. She probably gets all depressed when she gains a pound. (I know, I shouldn't feel glad that she's suffering the same oppression as the rest of us, but sometimes I can't help it.)