Fat Visitors Breaking Your Furniture? Here’s What To Do…

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You have an event coming up and your obese friend/family member is coming over. Do you let them sit on and possibly break your regular furniture? Do you provide a special chair for them?

And, most importantly…

How do you tell them?

Our normal mojo on this blog is to provide advice and recommendations to fat people so this is a bit of a departure from tradition. Luckily, I have experience on both sides of this equation and can give you some insight.

When I was a kid, everyone in my family was of “average” size. Slightly overweight but physically active. All except my Aunt J.

Aunt J. weighed north of 500 pounds and we saw her often at reunions and parties. When she visited she had two options: a wooden chair, or the entire love seat. While it never broke, I can still remember the cracking sounds of the wooden chair as she sat down and got up.

And that’s not even mentioning how ridiculous it looked for her to sit on it since she was three times the chair’s width. All in all, it was fear-inducing for us and (I’m sure) embarrassing for her.

So, let’s talk about a few ways to navigate a similar situation you might find yourself in:

3 Tactful Ways to Avoid the Situation

  1. Talk to the person before they visit. Let them know that you are thinking about the situation and have a chair (or sitting spot) specifically for them so they’ll feel more comfortable.
  2. Have “assigned seats.” If the person is visiting for a party, put a card on every plate with the name of the person to sit there. The obese person would obviously be “assigned” a sturdy chair.
  3. Remove unsuitable seating. This may not be an option if we’re talking about your whole living room set but, for example, if you have an heirloom piece of furniture, removing it before the visit will ensure that it stays safe.

If you were hoping for an easier and more pain-free solution to the problem, I’m sorry. There is no immaculate solution to be had. However, all of the above options will be helpful in avoiding embarrassment if your fat friend is breaking your furniture.

3 Things to Consider When Dealing With Fat People

1. We Know We’re Fat (and can break furniture)

If you’re of average size, you might not appreciate this but: fat people know that they’re fat. In fact, for most of us, it’s something that fills our minds 24/7. Are people staring at me? Am I sweating through my clothes? Where do I sit next?!

Every time an obese person enters a situation, they’re sizing it up and thinking about where to sit, where they fit, etc. If there is an obvious option (eg. sturdy furniture) you better believe that we’ll take it.

2. Talking To Someone About Their Weight Is Really Not That Offensive

As a big guy, it’s not unusual for little kids at the store to point me out to their parents or wonder loudly why I’m so big. It’s really not a big deal.

What makes it a big deal is how their parents handle it. If they hush the kid, avert their eyes, and scurry away with their cart it leaves me feeling strange. It’s not like my weight is that big of a deal. I’m aware of it, it doesn’t define me, and (to some extent) I know that my choices keep me the size I am.

A better approach is simply for parents to respond normally, “Well, people are all just different sizes!” and then give me a smile. It’s normal for people to be fat.

If you avoid the subject altogether it just perpetuates the problem. So if you want your fat friend to stop breaking your furniture? Talk to them about it.

3. Your Visitors Will Probably Appreciate The Forethought

If you have an issue that’s weighing on your mind, it’s a relief for someone to notice and ask you about it. This is typically the case when it comes to obese people and furniture.

I have never been offended when someone takes the forethought to ask me about seating, how I can be comfortable, and if I can please not sit on specific chairs. In fact, I’ve always been grateful that the person was cognizant of my situation and cared enough about me to ask me about it.

Now, this isn’t the case in every situation. Some people are fat and super pissed about it. For whatever reason, they may be mad that you brought it up at all.

However, just remember that it’s probably way less embarrassing (and costly) for everyone involved to discuss the matter beforehand instead of breaking your great grandma’s antique rocking chair in front of everyone.

your friend knows that they’re fat. Most fat people stress about where to sit. It’s much more embarrassing to break a chair in front of people than to be told beforehand where to sit.

Now, if you have a family member or friend that is going to be spending a lot of time at your house, it may be worth it to invest in a heavy-duty piece of furniture or two. It will keep them from breaking your chairs/couch and will bring you both peace of mind.

Most average pieces of household furniture have a weight capacity of 200-250 pounds. This is suitable for most people but inadequate for even overweight users. For this reason, I almost always advise people to buy high-weight-capacity furniture. It’s typically better made, will last longer, and is safer to use. (Not to mention your fat friends won’t break your furniture if it’s heavy-duty….)

Luckily, furniture for fat people is one of our specialties around here.

Given that, here are some of our full review articles that you might find helpful:

What If My Fat Friend Or Family Member Breaks My Furniture?

If you thought the original question we asked was a doozy, here’s a better one. If your fat friend breaks your furniture, do you ask them to pay for it?

Short answer, yes, you absolutely can.

Hopefully, it will be a non-issue. If I sat on someone’s furniture and it broke as a result of my weight I would (and have) offered to pay for the damages.

If your obese family member or friend breaks your furniture, they should ask if they can pay to have it repaired or replaced.

If they don’t offer, you can obviously bring it up to them and ask if they are willing to help you fix/replace it. After all, they broke it.

That being said, I will warn you: it will be super awkward and they might be offended. It typically isn’t expected for a guest to replace something they broke unless they feel like they’re being careless or crazy. I’m not saying that’s how it should be, but that’s how societal convention currently works.

In a perfect world, they would ask and you would either accept the offer or not. If you do decide to peruse getting them to pay for it, you better be sure that’s it worth it!

I will also mention that, although I’ve offered several times, no one has even taken me up on my offer to pay for what I’ve damaged.

The Biggest Problem: The Unrepentant Fat Person

Let’s face it, fat people are not a special breed. Coming up with advice that I thought was helpful across the board wasn’t easy.

Your fat friend might be a jerk. Maybe they think it’s funny if they break your furniture. Maybe they won’t listen and sit wherever they want.

Well, if that’s the case, I’m sorry. Some people are inconsiderate jerks. Just don’t invite them over to your house. Problem solved.

Unless that’s not an option. Then I just have to apologize. Having not dealt with people who are “rudely fat” in my own house the best thing I can give you is good luck!

Conclusion

In the end, my advice is this: if you’re worried about your fat friend breaking your furniture, you need to talk to them about it beforehand.

A quick text or call to pre-empt the situation will typically be appreciated and much less awkward than addressing it in the moment.

Just be sure that they feel like you are acting from a place of care and interest and (most people) will not be offended. Best of luck!

1 thought on “Fat Visitors Breaking Your Furniture? Here’s What To Do…”

  1. What about if they are 550-600pounds and require you to get to work which is destroying your front seat and suspension etc. , not to mention the stench that drives people almost to throw up. person seems oblivious.
    The smell permeates my house since the person lives in the former aging parent portion. the person seems to not realize the cost to me of putting up with years of this stuff and probably can barely fit in the dbl size shower or 500 lb + chairs i bought. oddly the expensive -tuft and needle brand- mattress in a box is fine!! yet this person is actually nice once you get to know him. the coming health breakdown is worrisome. it will mean a nightmare for me and the fire/emt dept might not be able to get him out when he collapses as heart and organ failure is for sure coming. he refuses to address his health. i do have xl wide doorways. what huge people dont get is their giant size is very selfish and burdens everyone else with everyday everything. not necessary to eat to death!
    please reply but withhold my name etc.

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