Look, I’ll be the first to say that I’m not the skinniest gal around. I’m not a Flat Earther, I’m a Fat Earther. To be quite honest, I look like an overweight cabbage patch doll, even down to the dimpled knees.  Realizing my bias in regards to my self-image, I turned to my friends to help paint this picture (artistic medium: cellulite). “We went out for Chinese food and by the time I was full, Alex was only halfway done eating,” Noah Stone, GP senior, said.

“There’s a reason she wears sweaters every day,” senior and now former friend Crystin Clouser shared. If that isn’t enough of a testament to my character, I remind you that this year I quit the girl’s wrestling team after one day because my plump rump couldn’t hold a squat.

By the time A Lunch rolls around each weekday, I too roll into line and await my whole wheat cuisine. And yet, on one fateful December afternoon, I was betrayed by the one occupation I thought was my ally. While dishing up that day’s special, the lunch lady added french fries to my plate, looked up at me, and then took those bad boys right off. I was appalled, more about the loss of fries than the fact I was a target of a hate crime. Or more accurately, a weight crime.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only Notorious B.I.G. facing discrimination. Olivia Lange, fellow fatty, has undergone a similar experience. “I remember when I got turkey and mashed potatoes I was given a good amount of turkey, but after the lunch lady looked back up at me she took some of it off my plate.”

In a moment of abnormal social awareness, senior Gage Wakeley said, “The discrimination within this school is absolutely appalling. Not only are we dealing with racists and bigots at this vulnerable time, but now fat shaming too. You would think that lunch ladies would be more than willing to hand out food, fulfilling their lifelong duty. However, the only thing they are dishing out is shame and guilt. I have witnessed first hand the discrimination these women have brewed within our cafeteria. However, as I have the BMI of a toothpick, I am favored so it’s all fine by me.”

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but a lunch free of shame and stigma would better the cafeteria environment.