02-15-2010
11:35 PM
I would like every reader to take a moment to consider the actual issue before s/he responds with yet another, "I'm normal and I've had a fat person encroach on my airplane seat before," response. I have been following this event fairly close and not once have I heard Smith or even a supporter assert that he believes he should be able to take up part of another passenger's seat. Not only was it not said - it was not DONE. He was not in someone else's space! So all the I-paid-for-the-space-so-it's-mine responses are non sequiturs (this means they don't follow the line of reason).
The issue is that people are being degraded when they are publicly humiliated by the airline staffers choosing inappropriate and, sometimes unneeded, times to call out a person for his/her weight. A passenger has multiple instances of contact with airline employees before he is seated on the plane. Mr. Smith was shamed after he was already seated within guidelines and his fellow passenger on his return trip was rebuked when her shape wasn't a "safety" or "comfort" concern. The bottom line is that human beings were made to feel less than human - and this is never acceptable.
Whether or not the airline's policy is justifiable
Whether or not the passengers know about it
Whether or not the passengers fit in the seat
Whether your space has been invaded on 1 flight or 15 flights
Whether you are (and many of you are definitely coming across this way) someone who has a fatphobia and/or simply prejudiced against the overweight
Whether it is a paying customer on a plane or a random person on the street -
It is not okay to *purposely* humiliate someone.
Ever.
... View more
