podling | The Mysterious Expanding Andrea

So people keep telling me that I look like I lost weight. This is kind of hard to argue with, since they're not actually saying as an imperative, "YOU lost WEIGHT!" Generally it's just, "you LOOK like blah blah blah." Granted people do gain and lose a little all the time, and women around the time of their periods (or their "cycle" as someone at my work tactfully put it, seriously, I did a double take when they said it) look all bloaty.

Anyway, so I have this theory. I've thought it through for a while. When people haven't seen me in a while, they inflate me in their heads. Not, like, a lot or anything, they don't decide I'm 2 or 3 times as large or anything, but just slightly. They remember me more puffy or something. Ever so slightly larger. So when they see me, they're always surprised and happy for me because they think I'm healthier because I've lost weight, when really, it's all in their heads.

Sample conversation...
Guy: Have you lost weight?
me: Uh, no.
G: You sure?
me: Yeah.
G: But you look skinnier.
me: Are you sure I don't just look more pale? It's winter.