Is obesity the last accepted prejudice?

Here I am, 3-1/2 month out, down 87 pounds and feeling soooo much better. Now granted I'm still a BBW and I have a long way to go, however, what happened today I feel was totally uncalled for!

I've been getting out of the house a lot more. I still have a problem walking well with my arthritic knee, but I've definately come a long way and I've really been trying to walk more. So, today I leave the house and go to Habitat for Humanity to look for a bedframe. They didn't have one, but I walked around in the store for a little while. Then I got back in the car and since Wegman's (local grocery store) was basically next door I decided to stop to get some P28 bread and some fruit. I parked in a Handicap space, but not one close to the door. It was actually on the side of the store and required me to walk a good little distance to get to the entrance. As I grab a cart from in front of my truck this middle-aged white "gentleman" (using that term loosely!) decided to cuss me out and call me EVERYTHING but a child of God because I parked in the handicap parking space. Apparently, (unbeknownst to me) I'm a fat f*****g lazy ass b**ch who shouldn't be parking in a space that others need. This tirade went on for several minutes! Now, mind you I do HAVE a handicap placard and it was on display for the world to see! Obviously, my doctor and the State of New York thought I needed the handicap placard or I wouldn't have it. Anyway, I lost track of how many times the man used the term "fat" in his tirade, but it was at least every other word interspersed with the expletives.

Now, as bad as I wanted to turn into a total ghetto, trailer trash, foul mouthed b**ch, I thought about my mother, who used to tell me to smile and kill them with kindness. So, I took a deep breath put on my shiniest smile and told the man to have a nice day and stay blessed. Which, did nothing more than provoke him into another tirade about how I should learn to push my "fat f*****g ass away from the table, take my fat ass to a gym, STOP taking my fat ass to McDonald's and on and on and on. Mind you at this point I'm walking away from the man and he is literally following me to tell me all these wonderful things about myself and he's not being quiet, people are staring.

Finally I stop, turn around and just stare at him as he continues his tirade. As he stops to take a breath I ask him, do you know me? He replies that he doesn't associate with fat f*****g bi***es as he's glaring at me like I've got fat oozing out of my pores from my last meal. I replied then since you don't know me, and apparently you aren't God, I'm not going to stand here and listen to you judge me. Obviously, you aren't having a good day, I hope it gets better, stay blessed. Again, I turn around and walk away. Again this man starts cussing at me. I finally make it into the store where apparently he decided he wouldn't follow me anymore.

It just seems like to me that for all of the diversity training that people go thru at work, for all the things that are considered "hate" crimes, and the fact that it's 2012, that the only prejudice that's still acceptable is obesity. Not one person who stopped to stare at this guy cuss me out said one word to him. Holding onto my composure was not the easist thing in the world for me to do, but I managed to do it, because 2 wrongs don't make a right and me cussing him out wouldn't have accomplished anything either.

I just wonder what others think about this or how you might have handled the situation.

In today's Cleveland Plain Dealer the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic stated he would never hire anyone who is obese if it weren't for the Americans with Disabilities Act.

They already refuse to hire smokers.

 I know there used to be companies that wouldn't hire "overweight" people. Back in California there was a construction company that only hired field secretaries that were 5'7" or taller, blonde haired, blue eyed and were "height / weight proportionate". Obviously, I never got a job there!

I would have punched him in the mouth. Sorry. But I would have. He'd have been laid out in the parking lot. They didn't call me Tyson in school for nothing!

Well - I don't think the title of your post is the point of your post.  There was nothing acceptable in anything that man said.  Even if he 'only' said fat the whole time - it would not have been acceptable.  I don't think anyone seeing that demonstration would have considered that acceptable. 
For the last comment of your post - I would have been just as upset as you are and probably would have yelled at him back.  I can bring out the trailer trash with the best of them  .  I probably would not have cussed - depending on the person's age.  Isn't that weird.  An older person I would probably not cuss at - a younger person I probably would.   My hat is off to you for keeping it in check!  You probably did the best thing.

 I don't think it's weird that you wouldn't cuss at an older person, it's a matter of respect. For as much as I really wanted to go off I couldn't see that helping the situation and I was trying to de-escalate it. I don't like drama! 

Not sure what i would have done to be honest. I know i Would not have been able to keep my calm. and i sure as hell wouldnt have put up with it. 
i cant believe this happen to you and i am really sorry it did. :(. i hope you have a better day tomorrow and know that you are a strong person for what you did. 

 Thank you

I do think it's acceptable in society to make fun of and or make life hell for obese people. It is okay to judge us and ridicule us, pay us less or not hire us at all. 

Obesity is seen as a moral problem, not a medical problem, therefore, people treat it as a moral failure of the person afflicted. 

As for this man? I would have not have been a lady. 

 You think it's acceptable?  You would feel totally okay watching someone do this to someone else?

Please, please tell me I'm misunderstanding you, and that you meant you think OTHER PEOPLE think it's acceptable.