Thing is, we really don't know what he said.
I mean it could have been,
PERSON 1- "You realize that that your obesity has detrimental affects on your body, increasing your likelihood of diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. If you don't reduce your fat, you will probably die of these illnesses."
V.
PERSON 2- "Damn! I mean Holy Shit! That fat ass is going to make you one dead, bitch, in the very near future! And when you die, you going to crack a fart that'll blow a hole through a door. Damn, you worse that Oprah fat. Jeezus, but you must weigh, what 600, 700 lbs. I bet you know the dollar menu at Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King by heart. Do you have to pay double at the Buffet? I bet you need an oxygen mask when you walk up to the check out counter at Taco Bell. Jeezus but you've got to have the fatest ass I've ever seen. Do you even have a car seat? Do you need to buy two plane tickets or three so they can carry your fat ass? How many twinkies do you think it took to give you that round bulge?" Etc.
So yeah, there is honesty, and there is too much honesty.
Something like this happened to me last year. I graded a girl's paper pretty harshly because it made no fucking sense. The grammar wasn't just horrible, it was 6th grade. Worse, her ideas made no sense and had no structure. I was really amazed that he had made it into college.
My comments on her paper were tough, but I had written harsher (I have told students that their paper was worth three flushes of a toilet). So yes, I am harsh. But my comments were pretty mild. I had simply written that the work was poor and not nearly college level and she would need to do some serious work on it- all true.
I hear nothing about this, but apparently she gets all self-conscious and tells her parents, her parents tell her high school counselor (this chick whose mission is to get kids into college regardless of whether they have the qualities) and then this woman starts making the rounds, calling all sorts of people about these comments. I think I was the last person to find out about this.
So I go back and look at the comments and realize they aren't so harsh and are pretty honest. I ask her about it, she agrees- the paper really is crap.
And then this chick tries to get in my class the next term.
But that's the deal- you do stuff that serves an audience, you also have to take the risk that sooner-or-later you will have to deal with someone who is a bit more sensitive than the rest. That person can't take criticism well, and after getting slapped around a bit will go somewhere and cry and moan and bitch. The worse part is, its not you that's being unusually harsh, but the person who is unusually sensitive.
That said, do you want a medical profession of people who are like person 2?
I do wonder if it was a professional opinion or just some guy getting impatient with this lady. Both most likely.
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