Russell Williams
Well-Known Member
Daily activism
For those of you who already understand how I do daily chair activism skip to the last two paragraphs because that is where the story gets different.
I was at the NAAFA convention in Boston. I dropped and broke my bottle of insulin.
The pharmacy in Maryland where I got my insulin was part of a national chain, a chain that had a store near the site of the convention. I telephoned the pharmacy near the convention. That pharmacy checked my records and found that my prescription allowed me to have another bottle of insulin.
I went to the pharmacy and obtained my bottle of insulin. After the insulin was safely in my possession I started doing a chair activism. Using space between my hands to demonstrate I explained that the two chairs with arms only had a certain amount of space between the arms and that if one of my fatter friends had come to get the insulin for me their hips would be wider than the space between the arms. I asked where one of my fatter friends would sit if they came to get the prescription for me. The clerk said that my fatter friends could sit in either of the two chairs with arms. I then used my hands to demonstrate width again. The clerk explained that he had no control over chairs. I said that I understood that and asked which member of the competition did he recommend I patronize. The clerk professed ignorance about the chair design in other pharmacies. I explained that companies do not make money by referring people to competition. I also explained that if I should find another pharmacy which had adequate seating for fat people and on the door of the pharmacy I was in I pasted a notice about adequate seating at other pharmacies the management of the pharmacy I was in would probably not appreciate my efforts. I then asked to speak to the manager.
The clerk explained that the store manager had no control over chairs. I accepted that but explained that it is possible that area managers might occasionally ask local managers if any interesting points had been raised about how to improve service.
I then talked with the local manager and basically went through the same discussion. I believe that I reminded the local manager that providing adequate seating for large people might improve business volume and make him look good to his superiors. I explained that the average American is supposed to be getting fatter. I explained that doctors say it is unhealthy to be fat and if the doctors know what they're talking about they will be writing more and more prescriptions for fat people who will then be looking for pharmacies at which to fill these prescriptions.
After this I left the pharmacy and things got different.
In the parking lot a woman came up and complemented me for what I had done. She thought it was very brave. She explained that she was a professor at a local university that taught pharmacy students. As part of her instructional course she taught her pharmacy students to examine their own prejudices and to explore ways to improve service to customers. She stated that in the future every senior pharmacy student she taught would be made aware of the importance of providing adequate seating for fat people in any pharmacies that they worked at.
B.H. was with me. I asked him to critique my work. He had no criticisms. He said that I was polite but powerful. He said that I was probably somewhat intimidating simply because I was large. He said that while I was not yelling my voice had the power to carry a long-distance within the store. He said there was no way that he would have the courage to do what I had done. Since he is a Navy veteran, I was surprised.
Russell Williams -- activist
For those of you who already understand how I do daily chair activism skip to the last two paragraphs because that is where the story gets different.
I was at the NAAFA convention in Boston. I dropped and broke my bottle of insulin.
The pharmacy in Maryland where I got my insulin was part of a national chain, a chain that had a store near the site of the convention. I telephoned the pharmacy near the convention. That pharmacy checked my records and found that my prescription allowed me to have another bottle of insulin.
I went to the pharmacy and obtained my bottle of insulin. After the insulin was safely in my possession I started doing a chair activism. Using space between my hands to demonstrate I explained that the two chairs with arms only had a certain amount of space between the arms and that if one of my fatter friends had come to get the insulin for me their hips would be wider than the space between the arms. I asked where one of my fatter friends would sit if they came to get the prescription for me. The clerk said that my fatter friends could sit in either of the two chairs with arms. I then used my hands to demonstrate width again. The clerk explained that he had no control over chairs. I said that I understood that and asked which member of the competition did he recommend I patronize. The clerk professed ignorance about the chair design in other pharmacies. I explained that companies do not make money by referring people to competition. I also explained that if I should find another pharmacy which had adequate seating for fat people and on the door of the pharmacy I was in I pasted a notice about adequate seating at other pharmacies the management of the pharmacy I was in would probably not appreciate my efforts. I then asked to speak to the manager.
The clerk explained that the store manager had no control over chairs. I accepted that but explained that it is possible that area managers might occasionally ask local managers if any interesting points had been raised about how to improve service.
I then talked with the local manager and basically went through the same discussion. I believe that I reminded the local manager that providing adequate seating for large people might improve business volume and make him look good to his superiors. I explained that the average American is supposed to be getting fatter. I explained that doctors say it is unhealthy to be fat and if the doctors know what they're talking about they will be writing more and more prescriptions for fat people who will then be looking for pharmacies at which to fill these prescriptions.
After this I left the pharmacy and things got different.
In the parking lot a woman came up and complemented me for what I had done. She thought it was very brave. She explained that she was a professor at a local university that taught pharmacy students. As part of her instructional course she taught her pharmacy students to examine their own prejudices and to explore ways to improve service to customers. She stated that in the future every senior pharmacy student she taught would be made aware of the importance of providing adequate seating for fat people in any pharmacies that they worked at.
B.H. was with me. I asked him to critique my work. He had no criticisms. He said that I was polite but powerful. He said that I was probably somewhat intimidating simply because I was large. He said that while I was not yelling my voice had the power to carry a long-distance within the store. He said there was no way that he would have the courage to do what I had done. Since he is a Navy veteran, I was surprised.
Russell Williams -- activist
