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Wednesday, February 24th, 2010
Political correctness prevents us from saying the things we really want to say. Simple truths must be put aside for fear of hurting someone’s feelings. So now we have to beat around the bush, speak in hushed tones, what once were black and white dilemmas are now drowned in a sea of grey. Well, not one known for shying away from the issues, today I plan to cut right through the crap and ‘go there’:
Should fat people pay for two seats on a plane?
To me, this is a no brainer. I can’t believe it’s even a debate. It’s not discrimination, it’s not singling people out, it’s simple logistics. Weight matters on an aircraft. Our luggage cannot weigh more than a certain amount. How come the people can?
I’ve been in the situation before; travelling from Canada to England with an overweight person next to me. I hardly think it fair that I paid for a seat and only got half a one. And yet I’m the rude one for asking to be moved? That makes no kind of sense to me. And yes, this is a bigger problem in North America because the fact is, people are fatter there.
I heard of a case where a woman was taken off a flight because she was so overweight that she couldn’t do up her seatbelt. This woman then went on to sue the airline for the embarrassment they put her through or some such nonsense (I don’t know what the outcome was). Really? You’re going to go through the hassle of lawyers and court fees and a long, drawn out process rather than just taking your ass to the gym and maybe working on a few things? Ridiculous!
Remember when I moved back to England and had to pay $800 in excess baggage charges? Yeah, me too. Excuse me while I go weep at the horrifying memory of it all. I remember standing at the check in desk, begging, pleading (alright, it was more like yelling and screaming, but whatever) with the manager to not charge me so much. She kept banging on about how important weight is on the aircraft. While we’re having this argument, I look behind me to see roughly half the people in the line are overweight, a few clinically so. I looked at them, looked at the manager, looked at them, looked back at the manager. She didn’t take my hint. Why weren’t one of those people refused boarding? Because of damn political correctness, that’s why and it’s such bollocks! When you think about it, I basically funded one overweight person’s flight.
If you’re an overweight person and don’t like being ‘singled out’ or ‘embarrassed’ in these situations, there are some really fairly simple steps you can take to avoid it. Why should others have to fund you and be made uncomfortable? Pay for two seats or lose some weight. Simple – problem solved.
Tags: planes, rants
Posted in travel | 31 Comments »