The Right to Bloat, or, Jabba flies Economy class

[SpeedRacer 1]

Well, we've all heard about the "obesity epidemic."

A similar situation has happened to me before, but here's what happened on a flight I was on yesterday.

I was flying from Minneapolis to Washington DC. There were three seats in our row. I had the window seat. A guy in his late 20s had the middle seat. The plane is filling up completely. Then this HUGE freighter-class woman waddles down the aisle towards us. She's so hugely obese it looks like she fills the aisle. You guessed it, she was coming straight for our row!

She puts her small bag in the overhead compartment. Then, in a well-practiced gesture, she reaches down and grasps the arm-rest seperating her seat from the young man's seat, and rotates it up to tuck it away in the upright position between the backs of the chair.

She sits down in the aisle seat, but her vast bulk is extending partially into the young guy's seat. We spent the whole 3 hour flight that way, with the young guy kind leaning over towards me, unable to fully relax. I kept my armrest down, but I allowed him to kinda lean towards me a little. Let me tell you, it was pretty claustrophobic with that vast mound of blubber blocking us in for the whole flight.

Of course, there were no other places for her to sit, the plane was totally full.

What do you think about this situation? Because similar, although less extreme, situations have happened to me before.

Should hugely fat people be required to ride in first class (they have wider seats there) or even purchase another seat?

It seems to me that they should. This poor guy probably paid, I don't know, 300 bucks for that seat, and only got to use about 75% of it.

what do you think?

Speed Racer
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[skymama 35]

Actually, I'm surprised they didn't make her buy 2 seats because I've heard of the airlines doing that before. When I hear of my friends making flights, I always say to them, "I hope you don't have to sit by any babies or obese people!" I would have been pissed had she flipped up my arm rest.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[SpeedRacer 1]

Quote

I would have been pissed had she flipped up my arm rest.

well, that brings up a point. should he have simply refused to let her do that?

Speed Racer
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[skymama 35]

I don't know, but I would have liked that barrier between me and any stranger.

This sounds like a thread for SC.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[haymangonzo 0]

My friend, next time complain. If she's to big for the seat, she needs to buy two seats or travel business class. Your airline company didn't give you the service you paid for in the end if you're not able to make normal use of your seat and even less the poor fellow sitting next to you.

***
Nice to meet you toot!

[weegegirl 2]

That is the best thing I've read on bonfire in a month! GROSE! Yeah... she should have had to buy two seats. OMG... the poor kid who had to sit next to her!

[Zenister 0]

i think (actually i know, i've done it several times as i travel a lot) i'd have put the arm rest back down and explained politely to the woman that I paid for this tiny bit of space on this aircraft and that she paid for her own tiny space and emphasize that as i dislike flying in planes i cannot jump out of, I am not inclined to share my space with her..

absofuckinglutely, fatasses should be required to buy additional seating to fit their bulk.. it is simply arsine that i have to pay $50 for being 1lb over 70 with my bag while the 300lb behemoth pays the same airfare as my narrow 190lb ass and then believes their mass entitles them to impose themselves on me as well..

fuck! that! when it happens, i bitch, i bitch politely but loudly, and i usually get upgraded to 1st Class because of the airlines 'oversight'.

their weight is not and should never be my problem..

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[flyangel2 2]

I'm with you, I would have taken the arm rest and put it back down. I would have lied and said I needed it for my arm. After the flight had taken off, I would have excused myself, trying to get by her and tell one of the flight attendances that I was worried about safety issues. Like if we need to get out of the plane fast, and was worried that the woman in guestion would block the way. I'd then suggest that they move me to first class. If they didn't I would make sure that some one higher up knew I was upset about the customer service I received.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[NWFlyer 2]

Oh, man, I have a really tough time with this, because I've been there. I was obese when I used to travel all the time for work. Fortunately, because I traveled so much, I had status with United, which meant I either was upgraded to first class, or had the middle seat blocked on most flights (they'd hold it open for frequent fliers as long as they could).

I spent years of my life dreading flying but doing it a lot. On the occasions where I did have someone sitting next to me, I would try really hard to be as unobtrusive as possible, to take up as little space as possible, and if my seatmate wanted to leave the armrest down, I would.

I also feel very fortunate that I never had anyone sit next to me who was truly rude about it. I know that I probably wasn't the most comfortable person to sit next to; god knows *I* wasn't comfortable.

This was also before the airlines (I think Southwest is the one that does this most consistently, and I don't really fly them) started to charge more for larger passengers, so I was never asked to pay more. I can guarantee you I would have been mortified. It's already a really awful, awkward situation to be bigger than the seats on commercial airplanes.

When I lost weight I remember how much of a victory it was, first to not have to use a seat belt extender (I used to have to), then the first time I realized I had space between the armrest, to where I am now, where i fit comfortably in a seat on any size aircraft and pull the seat belt tight with plenty of slack.

I really don't know how to feel about it. On the one hand, I sympathize because I've been there, and know that those seats aren't really made to be too comfortable for *anyone* who's at all big or tall or both. On the other hand, I find myself doing the same thing, hoping that the larger person coming down the aisle isn't going to sit next to me.

Since the airlines aren't going to make the seats any bigger, I guess the "buy an extra seat" solution is the way to go, but man, that's such an awkward, delicate situation for an airline staffer to have to have with someone, and I imagine they don't like it (and in fact, I remember them showing those conversations on that reality show they had about Southwest Airlines... they weren't pretty).

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[SpeedRacer 1]

I didn't know about that policy. So when they charge fat people more, do they then move them to first class seats, which are wider?

Speed Racer
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[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

I didn't know about that policy. So when they charge fat people more, do they then move them to first class seats, which are wider?

Well, Southwest is the airline I know has gotten a lot of publicity about doing it, and they don't have first class. I guess what they do is just sell the person two seats and I guess the person has to tell the flight attendants they've bought two seats so no one sits down next to them (since I think Southwest still has first-come, first-served seating). Not sure, though. Like I said, I never got charged and it's not an issue for me at my current weight.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[SpeedRacer 1]

I just checked Miss Manners. No advice in the archives on how to deal with this.

Maybe I should write to the column. This situation comes up more & more, it seems.

Speed Racer
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[livendive 8]

My ex's mom is really big, like 330 lbs. She doesn't wait for airlines to tell her to buy an extra seat, she just buys one on her own.

I have somehow avoided such a situation thus far, but if/when it happens I won't hesitate to tell the person to stop touching me. I'm not really known for mincing words.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[dixieskydiver 0]

I just got on the scale and I've gained another 5 pounds, I don't think it's wise for me to post anything insensitive in this thread as it might come back to bite me in my quickly expanding ass.

Dixie
HISPA #56 Facil Rodriguez
"Scientific research has shown that 60% of the time, it works every time."

[Douva 0]

Quote

Well, we've all heard about the "obesity epidemic."

A similar situation has happened to me before, but here's what happened on a flight I was on yesterday.

I was flying from Minneapolis to Washington DC. There were three seats in our row. I had the window seat. A guy in his late 20s had the middle seat. The plane is filling up completely. Then this HUGE freighter-class woman waddles down the aisle towards us. She's so hugely obese it looks like she fills the aisle. You guessed it, she was coming straight for our row!

She puts her small bag in the overhead compartment. Then, in a well-practiced gesture, she reaches down and grasps the arm-rest seperating her seat from the young man's seat, and rotates it up to tuck it away in the upright position between the backs of the chair.

She sits down in the aisle seat, but her vast bulk is extending partially into the young guy's seat. We spent the whole 3 hour flight that way, with the young guy kind leaning over towards me, unable to fully relax. I kept my armrest down, but I allowed him to kinda lean towards me a little. Let me tell you, it was pretty claustrophobic with that vast mound of blubber blocking us in for the whole flight.

Of course, there were no other places for her to sit, the plane was totally full.

What do you think about this situation? Because similar, although less extreme, situations have happened to me before.

Should hugely fat people be required to ride in first class (they have wider seats there) or even purchase another seat?

It seems to me that they should. This poor guy probably paid, I don't know, 300 bucks for that seat, and only got to use about 75% of it.

what do you think?

If it's in my seat, I feel I have the right to do to it whatever I wish. How many times do you think I can poke that unsightly roll of fat with the blunt end of a ballpoint pen in a three hour flight? My guess is over 10,000. I'm sorry, did I just slam the armrest down on your fat gut? Oh my god, I just spilled cranberry juice all over your big fat ass, didn't I? And here all the people sitting nearby probably though YOU would be the one annoying ME for three hours. Don't talk to me about your thyroid gland--Medical condition or not, you're not sharing a seat with me. If you think claiming a disability gives you the right to do whatever you want, ring the service bell and ask the stewardess how many quadriplegic flight attendants she's worked with. Then walk up to the cockpit and ask the captain how many blind pilots he knows. Then get on the radio and ask ATC how many deaf air traffic controllers work there. Then glance back down the aisle at how many morbidly obese passengers are spilling over into my seat. I assure you, the answers will all be the same.

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[SpeedRacer 1]

After thinking about this I think the answer to this would be to keep the armrest down. Any comments & complaints should be strictly confined to the issue of the fact that you paid for this space right here, but should not be extended to calling the person fat, or in anyway making any reference to her size. It should focus solely on your right to your own seat space.

It seems to me that would be the assertive, yet polite thing to do.

Speed Racer
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[flyangel2 2]

Quote

(and in fact, I remember them showing those conversations on that reality show they had about Southwest Airlines... they weren't pretty).

I was just going to say that I watched a show when the person who collects tickets, or some one at the check in counter, told the person they would have to buy another seat. Man, that person was really upset. I'm shocked that the person we are talking about in this thread was even allowed to get on the flight, and not one person working for the airline said a thing.

BTW, how wonderful that you have lost the weight and kept it off. Way to go

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[gemini 0]

This is interesting to me because last week on the flight back to Houston, a really, really big guy sat across the aisle from me.

This particular jet has one row of seats on the port side and two rows of seats starboard.

When the big guy went to sit down, he raised not only the middle armrest, but the aisle armrest as well. The poor guy in the window seat was really crammed against the window.

When the flight attendent brought the food service cart down the aisle, she had to ask the guy to move toward the window and out of the aisle.

This guy was so big his knees were solidly in the back of the seat in front of him. He literally filled up the entire space between the rows of seats and could have easily taken up two full seats.

This guy was overweight, but I would not have called him obese. He was just huge!

Blue skies,

Jim

[skyyhi 0]

I used to weigh in at nearly 300 lbs and HATED flying. I would always wait to buy my ticket till last minute and pick a seat where I was pretty sure no one else would be sitting next to me. If the option was available I would fly business class or attempt to upgrade to first class. Luckily my job did not require much in the way of flying. Of course now at 130 lbs I hate flying in planes I cannot jump out of, but at least its comfortable and I can put down the tray table if I feel so inclined. . .

For years I figured I would spend the rest of my life obese because I had failed on every diet I tried. But now I know that losing the weight is possible no matter how big you are. There are solutions.

Okay, I am off my soapbox for now. Laters. . .

________________________________________
Take risks not to escape life… but to prevent life from escaping. ~ A bumper sticker at the DZ
FGF #6
Darcy

[Elisha 1]

You lost over half your body weight? Wow! Congrats!

[Diversgodown 0]

Here! Here! OOWW quit it OOWW quit it OOWW quit it. then get your damn fat outa my seat!!!

***Glory Favors the Bold***

[hobbes4star 0]

my sister in law is well fairly large. (as big as 4 people but my wife hates when i say that) she flew to phoenix last year and they made her buy an extra seat. to say the least she was not happy.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[ntrprnr 0]

For what it's worth, I'm a skydiver who's real job keeps him in the non-jumping-outable-types of planes to the tune of 150,000 miles per year. I got totally sick of sitting next to not so much fat people, but people who wouldn't shut up, or wouldn't stop drooling, etc...

So I built something to hopefully do something about it.

Feel free to check it out:

www.airtroductions.com

:)

Cheers,

ntrprnr

_______________
"Why'd you track away at 7,000 feet?"
"Even in freefall, I have commitment issues."

[tsisson 0]

I'm a big fella...but don't take up more than my own space. I was on a flight once where there were three of us big fella's in the same row. We were all in the 6'3 to 6'5 and 250 lb range.

I've got to tell you, we were a team in that row...alternating the lean forward/lean backward positions for the whole 4 hour flight.

Comic relief for the flight attendants and other passengers, as we were moaning and groaning the whole trip.

[trfenwyd 0]

What I do in this situation is make the fatty get into the window seat. If nothing else, obese people present a safety hazard. I've seen people cram into an rj that there is no way you could get around them if you have to get out. So I force them to sit in the window seat and I'll take the aisle.

in vino veritas-
(there is truth in wine)