Living Large

Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round
Get on your bikes and ride
Queen



Many of you have probably heard about Club Bounce by now, but I just discovered it. It's a nightclub in Long Beach, California that caters to plus-sized people. And if "plus-sized" sounds too politically correct to you, you may prefer the way the Associated Press put it:

This expansive nightclub a couple blocks from the Pacific Ocean, with its flashing lights, friendly atmosphere and wall-rattling hip-hop sounds, caters specifically to fat people. That's right, fat people. Not just any fat people, either, but fat people who are proud to call themselves fat people.

Now I am willing to acknowledge that I am fat, but I am not proud of it. I really cannot get my head around how someone who cannot touch their toes would be proud of that. Anyhow, you can read all about Club Bounce in the AP report and there's another interesting story here on a web site called nightclub.com that caters to the bar management trade.

The owner of the bar makes a big deal about creating an environment where plus-sized party-goers can enjoy themselves without feeling like "the fat girl at the bar", as she described it. I would sooner think my reaction to the club would be more like "there's nothing but fat girls at the bar", but then I am obviously not tuned into the Club Bounce way of thinking.

I mean, it's not like a gay bar. I can understand why gays would want to have a place where they can get together without worrying about being bashed if they feel like doing the lambada. But honestly, is there a dance floor anywhere in the world that prohibits chubby folks from boogeying?

Or is it that the chubby folks feel out of place with people who wear black because they like the color and not because it hides their shapes? Certainly I have learned over the years that the easiest way to look thinner was not to lose weight - which is very hard work - but to hang around a bunch of very fat people. So maybe that would be the best reason to go to the club for some of us.

I don't want to sound too harsh about Club Bounce. Live and let live, so if the XXLs of this world want their own place to dance, more power to them. But I have to tell you I am quite disappointed because I wouldn't be allowed into the club.

While I pass the physical requirements easily enough, my problem is that the club requires that men wear shirts with a collar and it bans sneakers. In order to get in, I would have to abandon my retirement uniform. I just don't think it's something I would consider if the only payoff is that I get to dance with a bunch of large people who boast that they're fat and proud of it.