02-17-2010
02:27 AM
1 Love
The funny thing about this is that I saw Kevin Smith live last week, and I can attest that he's maybe a bit "stocky", but not fat. I actually found him to be quite good looking, and not at all out of the normal range. I'm a dancer and I have a typical dancer's figure--definitely on the smaller, athletic side. So I definitely don't have some weight-skewed perspective. He's definitely not even close to one of those people who extends into their neighbor's seats.
My only explanation for all the people who write as if we're talking about some 400 pound guy is that they haven't seen him recently--if ever.
Or maybe it's just that Kevin, with his self-deprecating way of talking, calls himself fat. So everyone assumes this guy--who's totally in the range of normal--is like some huge Michael Moore type and doesn't fit in a seat. (I hope you're not reading this Michael, but if you are you know that you really are the type of person who should buy a second seat!) Many of the posters use this as an opportunity to tell the story of their uncomfortable flight with an obese person encroaching on their seat. But the truth is that these same posters probably look a lot more like Kevin than he resembles the obese people in their stories.
The real issue is this: even though Kevin showed that he fit not only in his seat, but between his arm rests, the flight attendant lied to him, told him the pilot wanted him off, and forced him to get out of the seat he fit into, according to Southwest's policy.
It reminds me of the time that the flight attendant on a full flight I was on told me my duffel bag wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment. I told her it would. She told me it wouldn't. I tried to explain that I still had my carry-on inside of it. But by then, it was too late. She'd made her call and was visibly upset that I was arguing with her.
I pulled my carry-on out of my duffel and put the duffel in the overhead above my seat. It easily fit. She still didn't care--she made me go gate check it anyway! When certain people in a position of authority are challenged, they become insecure to the point of doing anything they need to in order to re-assert their authority.
Many of us have experienced being the powerless person in a situation where someone else was abusing their position of authority. And when one of those authority figures finally picks on the wrong person--someone who doesn't have to take it--why is it that we find it more comfortable to side with the bully and insult the person who was wronged rather than stand up for our fellow travellers?
-A
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