Man forced to stand on 7 hr. flight due to obese neighbor.

[hadespussercats]

Bigotry against the morbidly obese is totally justified.

You don't believe in addiction or mental illness? Thyroid trouble?

I do, but I have no interest in the reasons why people do what they do, I judge them based on outcome. If you are of a size where your very presence is a constant inconvenience to those around you and you do not take the needed measures to either correct it or compensate for it, then I will judge you for it.

If your judgment is restricted to simple, truthful, observation, i.e.-- This man clearly won't fit into the space we have allotted for him on this flight, so we should either make arrangements or refund him his money-- then I have no problem with that.

But if your judgment is along the lines of-- Look at that fattie. What a lazy fuck. He doesn't give a shit about anything but the next thing he stuffs in his mouth. He disgusts me.-- then I have a problem with your judgment, and I don't find it justified.

[Schneibster]

I wonder if they considered putting a very small person next to the big guy?

Fit them in like Tetris!

The Russians had a series of illegal subversive cartoons about "shaping the New Soviet Man" that featured people being contorted into various unlikely positions in airplane seats on Aeroflot.

[JimC]

Bottom line is that airlines need accomodate obese people, the way they do the handicapped. How do you know that a handicapped person didn't become handicapped due to their own fault, like driving drunk? Why do they deserve more consideration than someone who is obese?

Fuck that. Obese people, or those with large goiters, do not need special accommodations. There is an easier, more respectful way.
It is quite simple, as I see it. (for the future, I mean)

They should charge everyone as a 700kg passenger, and offer discounts for each kilo under you are (including baggage)

This would encourage efficient packing, including packing on the kilos. Not at all discriminatory either, since EVERYONE can apply for the discount.

It costs per kilo to lift shit up in an aircraft. It makes perfect sense to me to charge people by the kilo.

Plus, lots of people are ashamed of their weight, so lots of them would pay full fare, rather than stand on a scale in front of the other passengers. This would make more money for the airlines, and only off those who could afford their vanity.

700 kg!

Well fuck me sideways!

[Drewish]

Bigotry against the morbidly obese is totally justified.

You don't believe in addiction or mental illness? Thyroid trouble?

I do, but I have no interest in the reasons why people do what they do, I judge them based on outcome. If you are of a size where your very presence is a constant inconvenience to those around you and you do not take the needed measures to either correct it or compensate for it, then I will judge you for it.

If your judgment is restricted to simple, truthful, observation, i.e.-- This man clearly won't fit into the space we have allotted for him on this flight, so we should either make arrangements or refund him his money-- then I have no problem with that.

But if your judgment is along the lines of-- Look at that fattie. What a lazy fuck. He doesn't give a shit about anything but the next thing he stuffs in his mouth. He disgusts me.-- then I have a problem with your judgment, and I don't find it justified.

How about, "Look at that fattie. He doesn't seem to give a shit that he's inconveniencing this other guy. He had to know that he wasn't going to fit, but he waited till the last moment to board. Why, so they didn't have time to charge him for an extra ticket? Why doesn't he stand up so the other guy doesn't have to? Oh yeah, that's right because he's fat. Inconsiderate lazy fuck."

[Seth]

How come the fat guy wasn't made to stand up, since the airline admitted he should have paid for two seats?

Good question. I think that the fat guy should pay for the other guy's seat, and should be sued for conversion, which is a tort claim for "any unauthorized act that deprives an owner of personal property without his or her consent."

The first passenger had a property interest in the entirety of his seat, which he had purchased the right to occupy.

The second passenger had no right to occupy his space.

Therefore the fat guy owes the other guy the full cost of the seat and should be sued for recovery of the damages.

Moreover, the flight crew should be severely fined for violating FAA safety regulations by allowing (in effect forcing) a passenger to stand while landing and taking off. That is a serious violation of the regs, and the flight crew should have kicked the fat guy OFF THE PLANE when it was clear he could not fit in a single seat.

[Tyrannical]

If I recall correctly, the fatties only have to buy an extra seat if the plane is full. If there are extra empty seats available they aren't charged extra.

[kiki5711]

Well, I 'd sit next to him and keep shoving the arm rest down and put my elbow on it and make him uncomfortable too. Maybe next time the fatty will think twice about getting a ticket and hogging two seats. I would keep showing him over and annoying him which might become a loud argument, in that it makes a loud and clear point to everyone and everyone's rights to have a comfortable 7 HOUR flight. I'd bring out pop corn and shuv it down my face so it flies all over the fatty. Do whatever is possible to make him uncomfortable as much as he's making me uncomfortable.

[Svartalf]

good luck with that hon.

[Coito ergo sum]

The guy claims he didn't use his seat belt:

Mr Berkowitz added that his ordeal in July presented a safety risk because he could not use his seatbelt for take-off and landing.

Granted he could have been in his seat and not had his seat belt on.

I find that to be the most likely possibility, because if he was standing in the aisles, the flight would not have taken off.

[Coito ergo sum]

Bottom line is that airlines need accomodate obese people, the way they do the handicapped. How do you know that a handicapped person didn't become handicapped due to their own fault, like driving drunk? Why do they deserve more consideration than someone who is obese?

Fuck that. Obese people, or those with large goiters, do not need special accommodations. There is an easier, more respectful way.
It is quite simple, as I see it. (for the future, I mean)

They should charge everyone as a 700kg passenger, and offer discounts for each kilo under you are (including baggage)

This would encourage efficient packing, including packing on the kilos. Not at all discriminatory either, since EVERYONE can apply for the discount.

It costs per kilo to lift shit up in an aircraft. It makes perfect sense to me to charge people by the kilo.

Plus, lots of people are ashamed of their weight, so lots of them would pay full fare, rather than stand on a scale in front of the other passengers. This would make more money for the airlines, and only off those who could afford their vanity.

That's discrimination, though, since minorities, like blacks and hispanics, have higher rates of obesity than whites, so they'd pay disproportionately high fares. Moreover, pregnant women would be charged more than the non-pregnant due to their pregnancy, and they wouldn't be obese. Women have more body fat than men in general, and it's harder for them to lose weight than men, so their ability to reduce their flight costs is less through no fault of their own. However, men are generally heavier than women, and would, of course, be paying disproportionately more than women. And, don't get me started on the Samoans and the Sumo Wrestlers....

[Coito ergo sum]

Bigotry against the morbidly obese is totally justified.

You don't believe in addiction or mental illness? Thyroid trouble?

I do, but I have no interest in the reasons why people do what they do, I judge them based on outcome. If you are of a size where your very presence is a constant inconvenience to those around you and you do not take the needed measures to either correct it or compensate for it, then I will judge you for it.

But, that puts the burden on individuals. The airlines have merely been considering their evil profit motive to the exclusion of the good of the people. They've made seats the size they are purely to fit more people in there and make more money. A law should be passed requiring all planes to provide each passenger with a large La-Z-Boy recliner, and of course the price of the ticket shouldn't change, because that would be unfair to the consumer.

[Coito ergo sum]

Hell, they have those things you squeeze your hand luggage into to see if it'll fit in the overhead... maybe they should have one for people?

I've always wondered about the carry-on measuring box. I think 75% of travelers bring bags on that are bigger than that little box. It's always seemed kind of arbitrary how they deal with carry ons.

[Coito ergo sum]

There was discrimination and fraud.
Favoritism for the fat guy who was allowed to trespass on other passengers.
Fraud because the non-fat guy didn't get to use what he had paid for.

The non-fat guy is entitled to not only a refund of the ticket price, but also some amount of recompense--come goodly amount--for his inconvenience.

The crew should be given official disciplinary action for being so fucking ignorant and enabling the liability.

You and I agree on this one. If I were the skinny guy I might not sue but I would never fly that airline again, I'd write them and tell them why, and I'd tell the story every time I had the opportunity.

I do not fly American Airlines for a very similar reason. They sent me a five hundred dollar voucher and I sent it back with a nastygram. I was Platinum frequent flyer; I got a call from the Vice President of Customer Service or so he claimed. I tore a strip off him an inch wide from his crown to the tip of his big toe. A year later I was Platinum on United and they've never done anything similar to me.

The beauty of capitalism in which there is healthy competition in the private sector.

[Lozzer]

Maybe the fat fucker should have been made to stand, or even better, to purchase two seats. He may have been a gentleman, but he is still a morbidly obese oaf.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I'm with Kiki. I'd have taken my seat and let him figure out what to do with the overflow.