POLL: DOES YOUR SIZE HINDER YOU AT WORK?

gridlock · Mar 24, 2009

i want to find out if your size is a hinderance at work. whether you work in a manual work environment or even office based.

I know from years ago when i used to be working on a building site, people would assume that because of my size i would be hapopy to lift stupid heavy stuff all day and come the end of the day I was so tired i couldnt move or do anything the next day.

and now in the business world, people often think i am just "big and dumb" and have even assumed that people that work for me are my boss and have tried to tell me about when in reality i'm the MD of the company.

i'm keen to know if other people experience it.

mike1107 · Mar 24, 2009

gridlock1983 said:
i want to find out if your size is a hinderance at work. whether you work in a manual work environment or even office based.

I know from years ago when i used to be working on a building site, people would assume that because of my size i would be hapopy to lift stupid heavy stuff all day and come the end of the day I was so tired i couldnt move or do anything the next day.

and now in the business world, people often think i am just "big and dumb" and have even assumed that people that work for me are my boss and have tried to tell me about when in reality i'm the MD of the company.

i'm keen to know if other people experience it.

big and dumb lol !!! next one who tells that to ya bro deserves a good old right punch in his mouth ... unless its your boss

Ivanko · Mar 24, 2009

I have experienced the same thing about people assuming that since you're muscular you don't know too much else. But thats only been a problem when starting a new job. After people see my work they move past that assumption. Same thing happened in school... A few times I've also encountered other males who's goal is the be "the man of the work place" making dumb comments or getting a case of ILS when I am around. When I was younger people would always tell me about construction jobs or jobs loading trucks saying "I bet you'd love that with your size", I'd just say "lifting is for the gym".

norm1220 · Mar 24, 2009

For some reason people tend to assume I'm not all that bright either.... But it actually works to my advantage in a way, since they don't expect me to be smart it is easy to impress them with my occasional flashes of competence! LOL

As a software developer I'm almost always the only fit person in the meetings I attend, although sometimes you will find a 90 lb yoga chick or Mr. 100 lb marathon runner in the room too. The only people my size are generally at about 60% bodyfat.

churchill · Mar 24, 2009

yeah people assume i'm stupid all the time, its quite comical actually, but at my job i only work with 2 other guys so they know me.

my buddy has a good story about this, he works in an office environment and when he was first hired he had this one guy say to him "wow i'm impressed i didnt think a guy you're size would be so smart".

so he said "hey i'm quite offended by that, you're discriminating against me, thats the same as saying hey i'm surprised for a black guy you're that smart, and i want to report you to human resources. you cant judge a persons intelligence based on their appearance!"

then the guy got all nervous and looked like he was about to shit himself and then started apologizing so my friend slapped him on the back really hard and said "relax i'm just messing with you bro!" and he said the guy ran off and never really talked to him ever again except for work related issues. pretty classic.

notsobig32 · Mar 24, 2009

norm1220 said:
For some reason people tend to assume I'm not all that bright either.... But it actually works to my advantage in a way, since they don't expect me to be smart it is easy to impress them with my occasional flashes of competence! LOL

As a software developer I'm almost always the only fit person in the meetings I attend, although sometimes you will find a 90 lb yoga chick or Mr. 100 lb marathon runner in the room too. The only people my size are generally at about 60% bodyfat.

I am with you 110% norm. It is hilarious when i walk into meetings with business areas, they stare like this dumb musclehead is going to write my application=-)

In the end i have learned to just enjoy it and smile a lot.

abolish the weak · Mar 24, 2009

Next time someone says that just respond back with "So I guess if I had a brain in my head I'd smarten up like you and go to McDonald's everyday until I couldn't find my dick anymore. I think I'm just going to stay dumb, is that ok with you?"

juiceddunk · Mar 24, 2009

u gotta love the co-workers who always ask you to move and lift stuff just cause your big, when in reality, your as tired as shit cuz your dieting and just got done training and are probably weaker than their 155 lb ass at the moment. Hahha, i try to just laugh off every ignorant, naive comment thrown my way now, you can't get mad at people, they dont know any better...

notsobig32 · Mar 24, 2009

abolish the weak said:
Next time someone says that just respond back with "So I guess if I had a brain in my head I'd smarten up like you and go to McDonald's everyday until I couldn't find my dick anymore. I think I'm just going to stay dumb, is that ok with you?"

As nice as that sounds, i doubt that HR in an office environment would approve much

Hence the reason that i smile and just do my job.

Pekkerwood · Mar 24, 2009

I think I probably get stereotyped more at the gym than at work. You can almost see the lights come on when people realize your a) not mentally deficient and b) not a jerk.

gridlock · Mar 24, 2009

surprising how many people have said yes already.

just shows there's definitley a pre concieved idea about us

saudades · Mar 24, 2009

steele said:
except for me i guess

i work in television shooting commericals and a co worker actually said," I didn't think you could do this. i thought you were just some big muscle head."
holy shit i was offended. kept my cool though and said,"well, i DO have a degree in this..."

anyway, that was the first time i was ABSOLUTELY judged negatively for being big at work. -STEELE

I get that, too. I recently became the creative director at a manufacturing firm, and when I was first introduced to the rest of the company, the VP jokingly said I was hired as his bodyguard. In other jobs as a graphic designer/art director, I've always been looked at as the "musclehead," etc.

Thor · Mar 24, 2009

WELL...

the only reason my size is a hindrance at work is because I am the boss of my own remodeling company, and sometimes when I tell my worker or the female helper that I hired for the summer last year to do something that most people think is hard to do(physically), or to help me put this (heavy) beam in place they are like " What you can't do that yourself ?" or they might say " What, you think I can lift that? " lol.... also because I get to almost 220 in the winter when the weather breaks (like now) and I get calls for decks and additions its harder for me to move around and I am slower than when I am 195 and under 10%bf in the summer months..especially this year cuz I got really sick and didn't have much work so I stayed home and ate like mad

Incoldestblood · Mar 24, 2009

While I'm no monster like some of you guys out there, I'm young, pretty muscular and wear polo shirts and such while working and the cardio queens and soccer moms eat me up, heh.

youknoww · Mar 25, 2009

I'm still in college and used to stock at a grocery store and they'd always give me like the huge bags of dog food to go stock and be like "oh you can handle that all by urself right?" of course my ego would get in the way and be like yeahhh haha my dad still does the same....everytime i go in for break i hear "you do all that liftin you should be doin twice the work of me"

BigMatt · Mar 25, 2009

Thats why i stay Small lol.

I think its a part of your bodyfat too, the more bodyfat the Bigger you look in your clothes and you look like a big bodyguard so people assume your strong and can lift everything so they make you do the work.

For me i really think being Very Lean 8%-9% Bodyfat(True 9 point caliper) is great with just a decent size for my frame.

Think about it, When your lean you look great in the face and Your skin look awsome, you look healty so people like you, they want to know how you look so good.They wont make you do the work and all that lol.

The negative point of this is that you look average when your in clothes lol

I Used to be like that(Big Bloated) but i size down and i Did SEE a HUGE Difference in interactions with people, its just insane how people can perceive you.