Did I ever tell you that I went to fat camp? I did. Three separate times. Two summers--1985 and 1986--at The Body Shop (no, not a car repair joint)and one summer at Weight Watchers Camp in Wisconsin (1988). The first two summers were more about my parents deciding I needed to "get in shape" and "learn healthy eating habits" since, apparently, they couldn't teach me themselves. The third summer was all about me wanting to get the hell away from my parents. Fat camp was a familiar option.
I don't fully remember the first two visits to fat camp; I was young (and fat) and kind of a shy kid. I recall clearly that no one knew how to pronounce my name. It's really not difficult, so I can only assume that they were all starving and therefore unable to take on simple tasks, like pronunciation. I also remember that The Body Shop camp was all girls, which was fine because I was too young to understand that benefits of a co-ed summer camp (that came later). The Body Shop is where I learned weird camp songs like the one about old friends being gold and not-old friends being silver (cuz that makes sense) and some ancient tune about begging for "pence" on the street. I also recall being screamed at at 6am because I wasn't doing aerobics with quite enough enthusiasm.
But Weight Watchers Camp...that's where the action took place. You see, I was 12 and therefore a woman. Ok not really but I was 5'10" sporting a full C cup and when I look back at pictures of 12 year old Dresden from that summer, I have to admit, I was a little bit smokin'.
I doubt that my parents drove me to Wherever, Wisconsin in the summer of '88 fully understanding the ramifications of sending their daughter to a co-ed camp but I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them. because it changed my life. Wanna know how? Stay tuned, bitches....
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