The waitress experiences, through observing and talking with the fat man, the power of kindness and an awareness that there are some things one cannot control and other things one can. When the fat man says, "But there is no choice"--referring to his compulsive eating, he gives her the realization that she does have a choice--that she doesn’t have to stay with Rudy.

Later that night, the narrator suddenly feels fat when Rudy is having sex with her-- "so fat that Rudy is a tiny thing and hardly there at all." As usual, the sex is forced on her and not pleasant for her, but this time she feels much "bigger" than Rudy. Some of the issues and questions that can be addressed here are why the fat man refers to himself as "we," and what the fat man gives to the narrator.