This woman seated between two obese people is awful but so are they for not buying the extra seat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently was on a flight and in the middle seat. I weigh 180, the people on either side of me where both probably about 250. It was uncomfortably cozy. We are all a bit squished together. The seats were narrow and with no leg room, people's legs spread.

The people pictured here are in the 350-450 pound range. I can't image sitting between them given my recent experience with much smaller people.

Agreed! I’ve flown many times. At 5’9 I have weighed as much as 200 lbs. the last time I flew was next to some who was definitely above 300. I’m 165 lbs now and felt extremely squished.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. The two obese people very clearly KNEW they were too big to fit into the seats and so that's why they put the empty seat between them. They are outrageous to expect a paying customer to squash between them.

People that obese also often have trouble wiping their anal area after bowel movements, etc, and so it's also likely that there was a smell involved. Even more reason to not want to be practically sitting under them the whole flight.

Outrageous.

The airlines are likely bound by anti-discrimination laws, so I think what they need to do is:

1) Start charging by the pound for both luggage and people. Then at least they could 'automatically' allocate people a seat size based on their pounds. Since the weight on board has a direct impact on the costs for the airline, they should be legally allowed to do this.

2) Have a rule whereby if someone is too wide to walk comfortably (e.g. within x seconds) in a narrow tunnel then they either cannot fly or they need to pay some sort of surcharge to be accommodated (e.g. in special rows with more space around and in front of each seat and an exit nearby). They could say that it's for safety reasons, because all passengers need to be able to move down the aisle freely and easily if a quick exit is required in an emergency. It could be a tunnel (without roof) that you need to walk through at the gate before you present your ticket. Kind of like at a cattle ranch. And if you don't fit that day, you can't board.

I think both of those ideas, especially implemented simultaneously, should be PC enough to be legally allowed, and they would improve flight comfort dramatically.

+1 re: the smell

I’m not sure what I would have done if I had to sit next to some smelly people who were squishing me.

[Anonymous]

I am petite (5’1” 105 lbs) and was seated next to a morbidly obese man during a flight once. I was in my 20s and too shy to say anything, but I really should have complained to the flight attendant. He basically took up half my seat and couldn’t put the arm rest down. It was a two seat row so no one on the other side of him.

I was thankful it was a short flight (about 90 min.), but still remember it was during a non-meal time. I try not to judge people for their weight/eating habits, but this man had the audacity to pull out a cooler and fix himself up a full tuna sandwich, loading on mayo, giant bag of chips, soda, the works. It smelled so gross, I really hate tuna fish smell.

And of course he was basically two inches from me just shoving food in his mouth. I wanted to throw up. I swear I am not a judgmental person at all, but years later I am still so grossed out by this guy and how inconsiderate he was toward my personal space.

[Anonymous]

I understand there is a real issue with spacing and seats here but the nastiness on this thread is awful and a reminder of how the is this disgusting double standard with people who are overweight and obese. Unlike all other vices they happen to wear theirs on their sleeve abs the whole world feels entitled to treat them as less than human.

So disheartening. Find some compassion and peace pps. St Peter won't be approving of this type of dehumanizing insulting and cruel cruel cruel language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand there is a real issue with spacing and seats here but the nastiness on this thread is awful and a reminder of how the is this disgusting double standard with people who are overweight and obese. Unlike all other vices they happen to wear theirs on their sleeve abs the whole world feels entitled to treat them as less than human.

So disheartening. Find some compassion and peace pps. St Peter won't be approving of this type of dehumanizing insulting and cruel cruel cruel language.

Oh please. You probably would have been screaming if you had to sit in that middle seat

[Anonymous]

Number one reason i got weight loss surgery after rapid weight gain was because of this. I love traveling and hated paying for business class tickets to be comfortable/ not bother others.

I know others are not so fortunate as to be able to afford that and it makes me sad. Couldn’t really read more than the first 2 pages of this thread because of the lack of compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand there is a real issue with spacing and seats here but the nastiness on this thread is awful and a reminder of how the is this disgusting double standard with people who are overweight and obese. Unlike all other vices they happen to wear theirs on their sleeve abs the whole world feels entitled to treat them as less than human.

So disheartening. Find some compassion and peace pps. St Peter won't be approving of this type of dehumanizing insulting and cruel cruel cruel language.

Oh please. You probably would have been screaming if you had to sit in that middle seat

I absolutely would not have. I've been im similar situations. I put on my headphones and close my eyes. My mo on all public transportation.

I CERTAINLY wouldn't have been calling them names loudly into a phone. I have some basic human decency.

[Anonymous]

The issue is they are infringing on other people's personal space yet they don't want to take responsibility for their size and buy the extra seat. Unfortunately although there has been progress with some forms of discrimination, there is still discrimination against a few remaining groups including the obese. You can't change the color of your skin or your sexuality, but obesity is partially genetics and partially self induced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue is they are infringing on other people's personal space yet they don't want to take responsibility for their size and buy the extra seat. Unfortunately although there has been progress with some forms of discrimination, there is still discrimination against a few remaining groups including the obese. You can't change the color of your skin or your sexuality, but obesity is partially genetics and partially self induced.

There is literally no reason or excuse to cruelly mock people's appearance on an airplane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i am a very petite person, 5ft tall 100 lbs. I flew recently on a short flight and was seated in an isle seat next to an enormous woman. Her thigh was spilling into my seat and squeezing me out. By the time we landed, the leg that was touching her thigh (there was no way to move my leg away) was drenched in sweat.

that is just so....skeevy!!

It is.. That's why I always wear pants and closed-toe shoes whenever I fly. Minimizes exposure.

[Anonymous]

I don't condone this woman's behavior at all (although I understand her frustration). I also think the comments calling these people 'porkers', 'fatsos', etc. are very rude.

However: for those justifying the obese couple's behavior. Please explain why it is acceptable for someone to pay for XYZ amount of space, and occupy XYZ.5 amount of space? If I pay for a handbag at the store, I can't just walk out with the original handbag plus a half size handbag for the same price. I don't understand how anyone thinks that is okay.

[Anonymous]

oreo sandwich

[Anonymous]

why don't airplanes have steel dividers between seats? that would solve the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand there is a real issue with spacing and seats here but the nastiness on this thread is awful and a reminder of how the is this disgusting double standard with people who are overweight and obese. Unlike all other vices they happen to wear theirs on their sleeve abs the whole world feels entitled to treat them as less than human.

So disheartening. Find some compassion and peace pps. St Peter won't be approving of this type of dehumanizing insulting and cruel cruel cruel language.

Oh please. You probably would have been screaming if you had to sit in that middle seat

I absolutely would not have. I've been im similar situations. I put on my headphones and close my eyes. My mo on all public transportation.

I CERTAINLY wouldn't have been calling them names loudly into a phone. I have some basic human decency.

She didn't call them names into a phone, at least not so far as anyone can tell from the videotape. She said she was being squished and that she didn't think she could take it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't condone this woman's behavior at all (although I understand her frustration). I also think the comments calling these people 'porkers', 'fatsos', etc. are very rude.

However: for those justifying the obese couple's behavior. Please explain why it is acceptable for someone to pay for XYZ amount of space, and occupy XYZ.5 amount of space? If I pay for a handbag at the store, I can't just walk out with the original handbag plus a half size handbag for the same price. I don't understand how anyone thinks that is okay.

You are using a faulty analogy here. There's a difference between goods and services, and an airplane ticket isn't the same as a handbag at a store. Unlike handbags, people vary and can't control their size (at least, at the moment of boarding that flight). It's not that they are spilling in the adjacent seats out of spite, if you get my drift, they just don't fit in theirs.

How is this different from mainstreaming special needs children into regular classrooms? Your SN child requires extra help, throws tantrums and slows down the pace of instruction, while my little genuis is quietly suffering in the corner, "not working to his full potential", and both of us pay taxes into the system, in fact, I may be paying more than you are. But the law requires the school to educate everyone, regardless, so the little genuis just has to suck it up and deal. This is life.