On the subject of reflection and eating, or lack of it, I'm reminded of an incident which took place at Ask restaurant, last week.

My friend and I decided to go for a celebratory meal, due to finishing another tedious year of studying.

In addition to accumulating knowledge, both my friend and I had accumulated quite a few pounds (in body weight that is) too.
As my friend and I conversed over our meal, I agreed it was time for me to shed the access weight.

However, it wasn't until I said I hate being "fat" that I felt like I had said something wrong.

"Raz you are not fat, you're just normal," my friend assured me.
Nonetheless, I was able to notice the colour in her face change and a little sad look in her eyes. I asked her if she was OK and, as always, she said of course she was.

It wasn't until a couple of days later, something triggered me back to this conversation, and I realised what an idiot I had been.

You see, my friend had already started a gruelling exercise routine six months ago which she had stuck to religiously. At the beginning of the regime she had been too scared to weigh herself, so six months down the line, having lost loads of weight, she gained the confidence to get on the scales to find out just how far she needed to go to get to her ideal weight.

Unfortunately she had not lost as much as she had hoped for and despite looking great; she was completely distraught by it.

In comparison, I'm a little bit smaller in size to her, and I realised that by referring to myself as fat it must have left her wondering what she is seen as on the image scale.

This also made me think about, Helen Smith, director of policy and campaigns for the charity Mobilise, who commented on my article last week. She stated she was disappointed and clarified the position of disabled people in regards to paying for parking.

It might sound bizarre, but the similarities between the two incidents is that they both made me think about how difficult it is for an individual to express themselves freely without impacting on others.
I would like to state that in both cases, I meant no offence but I guess, that's the paradox, in the concept of freedom.