Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't people who require more room just buy themselves seats in first class? Aren't those seats in first class more roomy? Maybe they could have even sat next to each other in first class and avoided all the fuss with the rude lady.

Haven’t flown, have you?

I've never flown first class. I have heard that it is A LOT more roomy, though.

The coach seats are small, they aren't too comfy but they do accommodate a normal or even a mildly to moderately obese sized person. If my body was literally encroaching on my neighbor's seat to the point that they were squished I would fork over the money and fly first class or I would buy myself two seats.

The passengers in that video should have bought the middle seat. And they were rude for not offering to trade her the aisle seat when they could see with their own eyes how badly she was being squished between them. I can't imagine doing that to some random stranger.

The woman said that she was having a hard time breathing before she blew her top about it.

I have demanded to be reseated twice in my life. Once on a flight with a very overweight woman. The arm rest could not go down so that was a no go for me.

The 2nd time was when a man was falling down drunk.
The airlines inability to accomidate their guests (large seats ect) does not become my responsibility.

Anonymous wrote:If those two people were flying together, my money says they bought the aisle and window in hopes that the middle seat would be unused and then they get a free extra seat to spread.

I know so many people who do this and take this gamble. The other woman was super rude though, it was not the way to handle it.

+100

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL "I eat salad". What a nutcase.

I'm obese and I eat salad for lunch every day. No dressing.

But what else are you eating?

For breakfast today I had a banana and a snack pack of nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds). Then I'll have salad for lunch. Then I'll have the mandarin I brought for a snack. Then for dinner I'm going to have leftover chinese food from last night - chicken and broccoli with brown rice.

Tomorrow for breakfast I'll have an apple and yogurt for breakfast. Salad for lunch. For dinner I'll stirfry vegetables, rice and shrimp (maybe toss in an egg?) kind of like a homemade shrimp fried rice thing.

I eat pretty well. The last time I had a sweet was last week - a colleague offered me a piece of a chocolate bar and I broke off what amounted to a big crumb.

Anonymous wrote:It's un-PC to say but as a 4'11, 115lb Asian female, I always grab an aisle seat and pray that some normal weight person sits next to me instead of some plus-sized person. I don't understand how people let themselves get to such a size but yes, I also think this lady shouldn't have made a scene.

You should not judge. You aren’t perfect.

I’ll take the two in this article over you.

What's wrong with a premise that if you do not fit in the width of the seat provided, you need to make accommodations for that - either buy a second seat, first class, whatever. It is not shaming you or your weight to say that you do not have the right to encroach on another paying customer's seat. So just like you have the right to buy whatever seat you want (aisle, window, etc), the person next to you has a right to the entire space that they purchased.

I realize that several PPs mentioned that the airlines keep taking back these extra seats - but if we didn't have this intense fear of fat shaming, maybe they would change that practice. I'd love to believe that most people are the like the PPs coworker and dad who do pay for extra seats, but at the very least, the folks in this article did not. And I do not see why they feel that they're entitled to any space that they did not attempt to pay for.

Anonymous wrote:

MikeL wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a few doctor’s appointments in PG County with my brother. The office was literally filled with people like those two passengers. The waiting room had oversized chairs the size of a loveseat. My brother and I shared one. Every other chair was filled to capacity by an individual.

DING!
DING!!!
We have a winner!!
What this thread has been about all along!
Let's be prejudiced against overweight people AND black people .
You know some of you should not even be allowed to classify yourselves as human beings.

Are you saying that since they are overweight and black that it's okay to hog the middle seat?
If they were overweight and white would you feel the same way?

Nobody likes being overweight. You can speculate as to the reasons why that couple is overweight, but the fact is that some people have less favorable genetics, health conditions etc. that keep them from losing weight. What is indisputable is that the middle seat lady violated the bonds of humanity by calling them "fat pigs" and a bunch of other nasty names. I would have been mortified if my children were on the plane seeing a grown woman acting that way.

Actually a big part of really is diet and exercise. We can make excuses all we want w/ genetics and health issues which do play a small role but the fact that America is so much more obese than our ancestors were says something. We eat too much. Period.

That being said, I agree with you, this lady was beyond obnoxious and says something about her character more than anything. We are all inconvenienced at different times in life and just have to deal with it. I feel bad for the people that had to fly with me when I had toddlers. I actually had a man yell at us because my daughter was crying too long on the plane one time but anyway that's another thread.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They booked the aisle and window knowing the middle was too uncomfortable. Yes, she was rude, but they were wrong also.

they booked the aisle and the window because the aisle and the window have other spaces to squish yourself into. The middle seat does not

My DH and I do that when we travel. (We are a little overweight, not obese). If someone shows up for the middle seat we re-evaluate but it’s good to have options or even a whole row to ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The couple started this whole drama by purposefully buying the window and aisle seat, knowing they needed the extra room.

Their bad.

Lady was rude. I wouldn't have been that way, but i avoid confrontation like the plague. I don't blame her for having that reaction.

Agreed. Also agree that if you need a seatbelt extended, you should be REQUIRED to purchase an extra seat. And why didn't one of them offer to take the middle seat so that she'd at least have a little breathing room on the aisle?? Flying is bad enough these days without being physically tortured.

How many of you pay extra for certain seats on a plane when you fly? ALMOST ALL OF YOU. This couple bought the window and aisle seats. They don't have to move.

Sitting the middle sucks no matter who you are. If you don't want to sit there, buy a window or aisle seat.

I've sat next to innumerable man-spreaders -- including men who actually think they can shove their foot under the seat in front of ME. I would say 90% of men think the armrest belongs to them regardless of which seat they're sitting in.

As PPs have noted -- if you want to be comfortable flying, fly private or first class.

I agree, but a person needs to be able to fit in his or her seat.

+1.

You buy a seat, not a seat and a half.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We black people bring up race and "make it about race" when white people do first.

This lady on the plane had to throw in that MAGA quip which signals that she may not be the most tolerant.

The lady didn't say it. Some guy said it to her to heckle her as she walked to the back of the plane. Then she replied, "why don't you go sit there?" to him. This is actually not about race, it's about size. This lady would've been just as perturbed and obnoxious if this obese pair had been white and from rural West Virginia. It doesn't matter. There's no evidence of racism going on here. Prejudice against big people, definitely.

Actually, what's much more clear is prejudice against small people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's un-PC to say but as a 4'11, 115lb Asian female, I always grab an aisle seat and pray that some normal weight person sits next to me instead of some plus-sized person. I don't understand how people let themselves get to such a size but yes, I also think this lady shouldn't have made a scene.

Why did you feel compelled to share that you are Asian? Do you have a weight bias against non-Asians? Fat Asians do exist, pp.

Also why is your petite size relevant? Should smaller people be rewarded for their size by not having to sit next to large people?

Anonymous wrote:Airlines need an obese section. Make it so the plane is balanced, but seriously, as long as morbidly obese people keep trying to fit in regular seats, it will just suck for everyone.

I agree. And if they have to pay for the seats, so be it. Or perhaps thin people who just want more space.

Anonymous wrote:It's un-PC to say but as a 4'11, 115lb Asian female, I always grab an aisle seat and pray that some normal weight person sits next to me instead of some plus-sized person. I don't understand how people let themselves get to such a size but yes, I also think this lady shouldn't have made a scene.

Why did you feel compelled to share that you are Asian? Do you have a weight bias against non-Asians? Fat Asians do exist, pp.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL "I eat salad". What a nutcase.

I'm obese and I eat salad for lunch every day. No dressing.

+1 My elderly parents are vegan, walk 5 miles a day and are still obese. They are short, and their metabolisms don't work that well because they are old. Doesn't give anyone the right to shame them.

Anonymous wrote:We black people bring up race and "make it about race" when white people do first.

This lady on the plane had to throw in that MAGA quip which signals that she may not be the most tolerant.

The lady didn't say it. Some guy said it to her to heckle her as she walked to the back of the plane. Then she replied, "why don't you go sit there?" to him. This is actually not about race, it's about size. This lady would've been just as perturbed and obnoxious if this obese pair had been white and from rural West Virginia. It doesn't matter. There's no evidence of racism going on here. Prejudice against big people, definitely.