To fat to fly??

[Magic Mom]

Just wait. "Obese" will eventually be a derogatory term too. Then we'll come up with a new medical or PC term.

Enlarged adipocyte syndrome

 

[Inigo]

Or whack them with a roll of wrapping paper.

Honestly, though, there isn't a whole lot you can do in that situation. If the flight is full and the person next to you is rolling into your seat, you just suffer.

I would insist the arm rest be down, and would probably tick off the person because I would constantly be elbowing them, asking them to please move out of my seat. I might suffer, but so would they.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

I don't know what the answer is. When we flew to Orlando in August my mom sat next to a man who did not fit in his seat and had to put the armrest up. My poor mom was so uncomfortable the entire flight but didn't want to embarrass or upset him. It really wasn't fair to her, but she is a very quiet woman and would never speak up or complain. She's a very modest and conservative woman and definitely wasn't comfortable with a strange man up against her.

I wish that one of the airline workers would have done something, as it was obviously a problem for her and it was obvious that it would be for anyone that was sitting next to him.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I agree that fat is fat, but the word should be used to describe a person's size, not make judgments of their character, intelligence, aerobic capacity, or personal worth. I know many heavy people who work 2 jobs, and have amazing capacity for sustaining physical activity.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Okay,

To those that say some people who are fat aren't comfortable with the word. The thing is that is their issue. When someone calls you fat or ugly or whatever that is the speaker's issue but some choose to take it as their own. I don't. Only you can control how you feel.

Some folks put down fat people for their own need to feel better about themsleves for some reason. But again, that's their issue.

And it's not just about fat people, it's about everything. I'm trying to teach my kids now that if someone picks on you it's their problem, not yours. Kids will always find something. For my kids, it could be they have 2 moms, that over 80% of their classmates are of a different ethnicity than them or that my son has Asperger's syndrome. There's always going to be something.

What would be nice is if we could all outgrow the need to feel better about ourselves by putting down others. Unfortunately some people never do.

FYI for anyone who hasn't read my earlier posts, I am fat; pooh sized; Ursula etc.

 

[bimshire]

They do have seats at the front. That is so embrassing LOL.

I really wish they could make plus size seats on planes, I think that would end a lot of embrassment for people

What would be better and prevent the embarrassment beforehand is for those people to push back from the table and lock the fridge. The fault is not with SW or any other airline. Americans eat too much and are too sedentary.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Thank you for the analysis and recommendation.

 

[MM27]

I've experienced this first hand on two different flights that I've taken. On one I had the middle seat, my sister had the aisle and a very large woman was at the window. We actually asked her if she would like to sit on the aisle, thinking that it would give her more room, and she turned it down. She was overflowing into my seat and the only saving grace was that my sister put up her armrest and I just moved closer to her.

The other was a man that joked to me when he boarded that he was glad I was small because he would need the extra room.

My feeling is, if you can not comfortably fit (and not just comfortable for you) in the seat, then you need to buy a second. If I'm buying a seat, I should be able to use the whole thing.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

This world is built for the average sized person, and when you are not average sized in any way it's a pain- and yes, sometimes more expensive. I am 4'10", I have to make lots of adjustments in my daily life, from buying step stools for my house and classroom, to having extenders put on my car pedals so I can sit far enough away from the airbag. If I'm in a store, I either have to find someone to help me or climb the shelves to reach stuff. I've learned to adapt and do not expect the world to adapt for me. My boyfriend has the opposite problem. He is 6'4". Like me he has learned to adapt to a world that is not built for him. One example is that both of us cannot just buy any car off the market. When I was car shopping, I eliminated several because I simply could not see. He has done the same thing because it could not accommodate his height.

The same is true of people who are overweight, obese, fat, whatever you want to call it. Sometimes it is by "choice" sometimes it is not. That is really no the crux of this thread. The fact is, the world is built for the average person. If you are not average in size, ability, whatever, you must learn to adapt to the world, not expect the world to adapt to you. In this case, it costs the airline more to fly a passenger who is 400 lbs. They will need two seats which is one less seat for the airline to sell, and it will also cost more in fuel, even if they do only sit in one seat. Either the airline eats that cost initially and passes it on to the customer through more expensive tickets or other fees, or they charge that person more. I vote for the latter.

As for the theme park thing: Aaron and I both work attractions in theme parks. Believe me, we really do hate when we have to ask a person to get off because the restraint system cannot contain them. On the coasters I have worked, we did have seats that were a little bigger and had a modified restraint, but even then some people were still too big. But you can't just replace an entire train with one with larger seats. Not only is that very expensive, but all rides have maximum weight requirements. You would have to go and reinforce the tracks so they are able to handle the weight. Not everybody can ride every ride. Some people can't ride because of disability, motion sickness, etc. Just like somebody who is too short can't ride because it is unsafe, somebody who is too large to be properly restrained cannot ride. In this case, the ride system literally will not allow us to dispatch the train as the restraint is not properly fastened. You still pay the same price as everybody else, including those who cannot ride the rides due to disability. So that is not really a valid comparison.