I'm fat. I've been fatter. Since I carry the bulk of my weight in my hips and I have broad shoulders, though I can buckle my seat belt and lower the armrests, a narrow coach airline seat will never be comfortable for me.
Those of you "normal-sized" individuals who complain about your space sometimes being infringed upon by a fat person, consider this: flying for me ALWAYS sucks, and I paid as much as you did.
When I can, I buy a business class seat. I try to avoid little turboprop planes, or when I have to take a flight with a "1 seat - aisle - 2 seat" configuration, I try to get a solo seat. I book well in advance. I buy window seats, so I can jam a shoulder into the window well for that tiny bit of extra space. I drive a lot rather than taking flights.
I've purchased 2 seats for myself, only to have the added embarrassment of a flight attendant trying to put someone in that seat, or other passengers trying to sit there, next to fatty me. Great. Now I get to explain that it's my seat too, and get glares from people who consider me selfish for taking up the space I paid for. I've had the person on the other side of that seat choose to treat it as his/her own, like a bonus empty seat and an extra tray table, just for them. And of course, one should consider that the armrests don't fold all the way back, so it's not as if I now have a super-wide, comfortable seat. No. Now I have metal jabbing me in the shoulder or back if I dare to encroach on the additional seat I purchased.
Thank you to both SWA and Kevin Smith for inadvertently opening public discussion on this topic. Blaming fat people for the discomfort of others isn't the solution. A redesign of airline seating would be a start.
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