Blogs

By Gina Ramsey

While zooming down the highway at 65 miles per hour, the noggin’ squirrels began running on the intercranial treadmill, I began thinking about one of my friendships.

My heart dipped with grief and sadness. I pondered, “Where did it all go wrong?”

However, it didn’t take long for the heartache to shift to anger. Gripping the wheel, I pondered the ultimate betrayal.

For years, our relationship was unyielding. Living together, we interacted daily. She supported me and was honest with me, so I thought.

Approximately two years ago, her personality shifted. Her energy became toxic, and her communication became a loop of negativity. From what I’ve been told, this is typical bathroom scale behavior.

Ever since she moved into my home, she had been loyal, telling me I was 132 lbs., daily. Despite my dietary downfalls, she made me feel confident in myself, reassuring her opinion of me would remain unchanged.

Two years ago, the unfavorable passive/aggressive communication began. I stepped on and behind her little digital light-up screen she said, “140 pounds!”

“What?! That can’t be right. Why would she direct such a cruel statement towards me? Why would she turn against me now, after all this time? Had I upset her?”

My only saving grace was to mend my transgressions, whatever they were. All relationships rely on both parties putting forth effort, so I worked on making positive changes. Though, I felt she was the one who needed to lighten up.

I shifted my diet and began eating healthier options and incorporated exercise into my daily routine — aka tormenting myself for the sake of saving this crumbling relationship. I avoided all interactions with her during this time. 

A few weeks into my new “lifestyle,” I decided to re-approach her and make amends. I stepped up and discovered distance does not make the heart grow fonder.

From behind her little screen, she displayed in red, “You are 145 pounds.”

“Are you kidding me?! The least she could have done was humor me.”

Despite my efforts, her pessimism and ongoing lies continued to worsen with each month thereafter.

Apparently, she was determined to make me feel bad about myself, and her strategy was working. As my “said weight” increased, my self-confidence was rapidly dwindling.

“You are now 158 pounds.”

I cringed. “This can’t be true. A gain of 26 pounds in this short time frame can’t be possible.”

Despite my efforts to silence her, her brainwashing strategies were taking hold.

Recently, she pulled my husband Paul into the mix. She began buttering him up, telling him he had lost weight. Tall posture, chest puffed, he’d strolled proudly into the living room stating, “The scale says I’m down five pounds.”

“How dare she use my husband in her game of deceit!”

She has convinced him she is trustworthy, but I am waiting for the day she turns on him too.

Next, she formed an alliance with one of her family members who lives at my doctor’s office. When I raised my concern about this “supposed weight gain” to my doctor, she sided with the both scales stating, “It’s common to become wider when going through menopause.”  

“DID SHE JUST CALL ME WIDE?! THE NERVE!”

My bathroom mirror joined her evil plot, declaring with deep reflection: “The scale is right. You are frumpy, squishy, and old.”

The scale continued to mock me. I had but one choice: discontinuing all interactions with her. Though she remains in my home, she now sits alone in the bathroom corner. I have concluded that I will no longer allow her the opportunity to weigh in on my happiness and self-confidence.

—Gina Ramsey

Gina Ramsey is a multifaceted individual with a passion for making a difference in the world through humor, inspiration, and connection. Based in the picturesque Superior, WI, she wears many hats as a Medical Social Worker, Author, Business Owner, Entrepreneur, and Family Chaos Coordinator.

As an author and humorist, Gina has become a guru of "finding the funny" in life's ongoing crazy mishaps and blunders. Her book, Burnt Gloveboxes: Embracing Life When It Goes Up In Flames, humorously explores life's unexpected moments.