Woman Posts Teary-Eyed Story About What Happened to Her at Dairy Queen
By:
One woman's trip to get free ice cream ended in tears, and it highlights the bullying that millions of Americans face on a regular basis.
Shauna Arocho made a viral post about a Monday trip to Dairy Queen for Free Cone Day that went terribly wrong, and her story has been shared more than 125,000 times.
The 27-year-old said in the post's video that she's been following the popular low-carb Paleo Diet and other diets since June 2016, and she's lost 60 pounds so she decided to treat herself to some ice cream with her husband.
"It's really hard sometimes, you know, giving up sweets, giving up all this kind of stuff that you just love to eat but it so bad for you," she she said in the video. "I have a long way to go in my weight-loss journey, but I've been encouraged by losing over 40 pounds just this year."
Arocho said they went to a Dairy Queen in Springfield, Illinois, and sat outside to eat the ice cream since it was a nice day. While she sat with her ice cream, she said a car full of men drove up, stopped in the middle of the road, and yelled, "Eat that ice cream, you fat b***h."
Arocho said she cried because of the horrible comments and pointed out that incidents like that can affect someone's mental health.
"I just don't understand what people get out of tearing other people down," she said in the video. "You know nothing about my life or my circumstances. What if I had been in such a place that you saying that to me, made me go home and kill myself?"
She told ATTN: that she shared the story on Facebook so people could understand the true impact of bullying, even in adulthood.
"I felt like it was important for people to know that they aren't alone," she told ATTN:. "A lot of people assume bullying stops in high school, and you don't hear enough people bringing attention to adults being bullied."
Arocho also explained that she's struggled with her weight her entire life, and she's continuously experienced bullying that's affected her mental health.
"I've been made fun of my entire life because of my weight. I've been called an oompa loompa out of the car window. I've had people point and laugh blatantly without caring if I heard," she said. "I have social anxiety because of the number of incidents of harassment I've endured."
Arocho said she hopes her video makes people think about the words they say to other people.
More than 70 percent of American adults over the age of 19 are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than 17 percent of children ages 6 to 11 are obese and more than 20 percent of teenagers from 12 to 19 are obese. Research suggests possible links between obesity and depression, although it's unclear if obesity leads to depression or vice versa.
"For me, I just want people to see the video and think twice about how they treat one another," she said. "Words can be a powerful weapon. If I can prevent even one person from being bullied by drawing attention to what happened to me, I'll be happy."
Read Arocho's post and watch the full video on Facebook.
