Fat Is the New Phat

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Fat is the New Phat As we go through life, we can meet some pretty interesting people. These people can show us a lot about ourselves that we may otherwise never know existed. In the story “Fat” by Raymond Carver, the waitress serves a man who happens to be extremely large. During the fat man’s time at the restaurant, the waitress feels an overwhelming sense of sympathy for him and suddenly aware of how shallow people (her friends and coworkers) can actually be. The man unintentionally changed her views on not only fat people in general, but how one human being should treat another. The setting of the story helps the waitress come to the realization that people are people regardless of their size. The story starts off with the waitress telling her friend, Rita, about her experience with the fat man. She tells her how when she first saw him his fingers are what stuck out to her. She described them as long, thick, and creamy. As she continues to wait on the man, she comes to find out how nice of a person he is. His weight has nothing to do with what is inside of him. He is respectful of her and she takes good care of him. Her coworkers and boyfriend, however, never take the time to talk to the fat man, so all they can talk about is how huge he is. Without her working that particular night, waiting on that exact table, and meeting the fat man, she may otherwise stay in an unhappy and unhealthy relationship. By her feeling that her life is going to change, one may think she is going to leave Rudy and quit her job to start over. The setting of the story helps her in her transformation into something new. Her coworkers’ and boyfriend’s point of view also help her in her new found transformation. Their attitudes toward the fat man were so shallow, the waitress found herself defending a man she barely even knew. At one point in the story a coworker, Leander, comes by
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