Two Guys Fat Shame Classmate, Regret It Instantly – Story of the Day

Two arrogant high school students fat-shame one of their classmates who is overweight but end up regretting it bitterly.

George and Harry were best friends and the stars of their high school's football team, and where one led the other followed. They were popular, of course. Handsome and athletic, and clever, George and Harry were always surrounded by the in-crowd.

There was one person they disliked intensely. and that was the boy they nicknamed Fat Freddy on the first day he attended their school. Fat Freddy became their favorite teasing target, and they never imagined how badly it would all turn out...

Fat Freddy's real name was Brian, and he had transferred to the Sacramento high school from Sitka Alaska. Three days after he started high school. everyone called Brian Fat Freddy, except the teachers.

The teachers, George and Harry noted resentfully, loved Brian. He was one of those few who excelled in mathematics, science, as well as art and creative writing, so he irritated George, who was the maths whizz, and Harry who thought of himself as the next Picasso.

One thing Brian definitely didn't excel at was sports or in gym class. Brian was overweight and slow, but instead of being even more demanding, their gym teacher, Mr. Scott was 'soft' on Brian.

Harry and George picked on Brian because he looked different, and didn't bother to get to know him as a person.

The more they knew about Brian, the more the two friends disliked him. One day, Harry noticed that even though Brian ate at the cafeteria, he brought his own lunch. "Look at that..." sneered Harry, "Mommy's boy..."

George called out: "Hey, Fat Freddy! What's the matter? You too good for cafeteria food? Not enough lard on it for you?"

Brian lowered his head and blushed. He concentrated on his food, which the other boys noticed actually looked pretty healthy and nutritious. But not responding to Harry and George's teasing didn't help Brian.

The two boys were determined to get a reaction out of Fat Freddy, it became a point of honor. They became more and more abusive and unpleasant, to the point that the teachers noticed, and they were called into the headmaster's office.

The headmaster, Mr.Ryan, admonished them and warned them to stop teasing Brian, or there would be consequences -- he would ban them from football for the rest of the season.

When they walked out of the headmaster's office, Harry and George were furious. They were sure Brian had tattled and placed their football career in jeopardy. "I'm going to get him," snarled Harry, "No matter what!"

"But...Mr. Ryan said..." George objected.

"No one will be able to prove it was us!"

The next day at lunchtime Harry and George waited until Brian had laid out his lunch before they walked by carrying their lunch trays. Then George 'stumbled' and spilled juice all over Brian's table. "Sorry!" he cried.

Brian just shook his head and got up to fetch napkins to clean up, and when he came back his food was gone. "My lunch!" he cried, "Where's my food?"

The other students who'd seen Harry and George remove the food shrugged and looked away, while some laughed outright. One girl who had a crush on Harry cried: "Eat normal food, Fat Freddy! It won't kill you!"

But Brian was becoming more and more upset. "You don't understand," he cried, "I can't, and I have to eat right now!"

"Oh!" cried George, having a great time, "Fat Freddy's afraid he'll get THIN if he doesn't eat in the next five minutes!"

To the students' shock, Brian suddenly crashed to the floor and lay still. Harry walked over and nudged him with his foot. "Get up, fatso! Enough drama!"

One of the girls said: "I think he's unconscious! Call someone!"

Before long, the school nurse was there and called for an ambulance to take Brian to the hospital. The students milled around talking softly to each other. George and Harry were worried.

"Listen, we can't be blamed!" said George, "I mean, no one fall over because they don't get their lunch on time!"

"Yeah..." said Harry, "And besides, they can't prove we took Fat Freddy's food...No one is going to rat us out."

"No one needs to," said a cold voice behind them, "You did it yourselves."

It was Mr. Ryan, standing behind them, and he's heard every word. "Have you any idea what you've done? Brian is a diabetic, and he has to eat at intervals or his blood sugar gets too low and he can go into a coma."

Harry and George looked at each other in horror. "We...We didn't mean to hurt him..." said George.

"We were just..." said Harry.

"You were tormenting the poor boy, and I'd specifically warned you to leave him alone. You are both suspended for a week, and you can forget football."

"Sir," George asked, "Is Fa...I mean Brian, is he going to be OK?"

"No thanks to you!" said Mr. Ryan, "I suggest you apologize when he returns, and I think you two need to do some soul searching. Is this the kind of man you want to be?"

George and Harry visited Brian at the hospital the next day, and apologized, not only for stealing his food but for all the times they'd bullied him. To their surprise, they discovered that once they got to know him that Brian was a nice guy and a lot of fun.

When Brian came back to school he had two new friends -- George and Harry, and no one ever called him Fat Freddy again.

What can we learn from this story?

1. Don't judge people by their physical appearance. Harry and George picked on Brian because he looked different, and didn't bother to get to know him as a person.

2. There are always unforeseen consequences to malicious acts. Nasty tricks almost always overshoot their mark and can cause real damage.

Share this story with your friends. It might inspire people to share their own stories or to help someone else.

Any resemblance in this story to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who fat-shamed a bride without knowing who she was and regretted it bitterly.