there's no doubt a person of size could potentially impede other passengers in an emergency exiting the airplane just as there is no doubt a person with a disability would.
the only difference is that there are laws protecting the rights of the disabled, therefore southwest must comply and accomodate these passengers. you can bet your last dollar that if these laws didn't exist, southwest would treat these people with the same disdain they treat large passengers with using all the same excuses.
i am a fairly large person, and like others have stated, i do everything possible to minimize my intrusion upon anothers space. i try to be as invisible as possible. i endure whole cross country flights with my arms crossed, my legs crossed, and move as little as possible. the aches and pains that build up towards the end of my trip can sometimes approach blinding levels. i doubt that, by the end of a long flight, there are many people on the plane experiencing the level of discomfort i do.
i have never once had a thin person offer me a window or aisle seat when there is nothing but a middle seat to take. with those types of seats, a large person can do a much better job of keeping their junk to themselves, so failing the offer to switch seats, i have to assume the folks next to me are satisfied with the arrangement, and i take my middle seat, cross my arms, close my eyes and endure the flight.
all that is about to change though with all the fat-hate i've been reading the last few days. in the future i'm gonna get on the plane, sit down and sprawl out, screw your personal space and your comfort. it's clear to me that there is no consideration for others in the world, peoples' personal space and comfort is all that matters so i'm going to stop doing things that make ME uncomfortable and start worrying more about MY comfort and you can whine, piss and moan about it all you want, i don't care anymore.
there is always going to be hate in the world and it's sad that it usually takes laws to reign in the haters. in the past it's been (fill in your choice of religions here), (insert your choice of ethnic groups here). today it's smokers and fat people. it's like humans have and innate requirement to hate.
and just because a policy has been in effect for 'x' number of years doesn't make it right. the us government practiced genocide on the american indians for 100's of years, blacks had the jim crow laws to deal with for many years. slavery existed in this country for 100's of years as well. i guess length of time made all that right? using length of time a policy has been on the books to justify the policy is ridiculous.
lastly, to all the people who say obesity is bringing down our medical system and costing everybody money you are probably right. i cannot deny those statements may be true, but at the same time, where does that line of thinking stop? should we outlaw motorcycle riding? rock climbing? driving automobiles? what about hang gliding? bicycle riding? football? i don't participate in any of those activities so why should my medical costs be impacted by others high risk lifestyle? where does it end? eventually it will be illegal to get out of bed.
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02-15-2010
06:12 PM
all the women out there you better get ready cause you may be next. if your ass is more than 17.5 inches wide you will be encroaching your neighbors seat space and possibly deemed unfit to fly. got a boob job? you might be a "no-go" there too.
i can see it now, upon exiting security passengers will enter a secondary screening area where height, weight, and measurements are recorded. next there will be a series of agility tests to ensure the person's ability to evacuate the plane without impeding others. a highly trained individual will then sniff your breath, armpits, and crotch to ensure there are no offensive odors.
this program will be completely successful in weeding out the undesireable passengers, and suddenly everyone will realize that there is nobody left to hate on the plane other than ugly people. once the ugly people are singled out, and subsequently eliminated, flying will become one big giant love-fest in the air. so much so that pilots will forget to land and fly til the fuel is gone, and there are 137 less bigoted turds in the world.
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