Woman Furious About Being Told She Was Too Fat For A Massage

Last month, Colorado resident Laura Smith completed a half marathon. The run was the culmination of months of hard work in which she dropped almost fifty pounds. So, to celebrate, she booked a massage at an Aurora spa called the Natural Healing Center for the next day. She was hoping the relaxing afternoon would help her body recover from the marathon and allow her to focus on dropping even more weight. Unfortunately, when she arrived, she was allegedly told by the owner that she was too fat to get a massage, and now the situation has turned into a very public battle between obesity rights advocates and those who think private businesses should be able to serve (or massage) whoever they want.

According to KDVR, the owner of Natural Healing Center admits she refused Smith service but says she told her she was “too large”, not “too fat” for a massage. Not long before the encounter, another heavyset woman reportedly broke a table at the Natural Healing Center, and the owner didn’t have any interest in replacing another one. That sounds reasonable enough, but if Smith’s supporters are to be believed, this mess is the business’ fault.

Smith, while certainly a large woman (6’3, 250 pounds), isn’t an unheard of size. The majority of massage tables are built to accommodate people up to five hundred pounds. Consequently, they think the business should have been able to handle her. When she was given the boot, she felt embarrassed and humiliated, especially since she’s done so much work lately to trim her figure, and her backers think she deserves an apology.

Obviously, no one involved committed any sort of crime, but hopefully, Natural Healing Center will learn to have a little more tact next time and Smith will use the situation as motivation to keep dropping weight.