This isn't discrimination at all. The only person being discriminated here would have been the passenger sitting next to Smith who paid full fair but had less space. It's true that most airlines have reduced the available space for passengers and at the same time, the size of Americans has increased.
If he already knew he needed to buy a second seat, his tantrum makes no sense. His twitpic attempt at humor noticeably avoids showing how he fit into his seat. For his neighbor on the flight, I doubt they would receive a discount due to the over sized passenger spilling into their already cramped space. Average sized people or small people don't receive any special benefits for taking up less space, do they? Even after Southwest apologized, Smith still blasted them. They'd be better off without this guy as a customer.
So what do you guys think?
NOTE FROM JOHN: I fly a good deal, and have sat next to someone obese before. I had to pull my left arm over to the right, with my elbow half way to my navel, the entire flight, so as not to be playing snugly with the guy to my left. It was very disconcerting, and physically uncomfortable, having someone else basically sharing your seat. I appreciate that we should not judge people by their weight. But I'm also not so sure that treating obesity as if it's a minority status is correct either. If your metabolism is screwed up, fine. If you eat too much crap, then I have less sympathy for you.
I wonder how John is going to tell the difference between those of us who are descended from shtetl peasants and whose bodies have always believed the famine is right around the corner so we'd better store every morsel we eat as fat, and the ones who eat too much crap. Does he have X-ray vision so he can see into our stomachs and see the egg white and steamed veggie omelet I have for breakfast most mornings and also see the Denny's Grand Slam breakfast in the belly of someone else? That's quite a gift. If he can do that, perhaps he should give up this blogging thing and start working as an airport security scanner.
Now, I like Americablog. I read it daily and it's a good source of news I may not see elsewhere. But at times like this, I get this close to scrubbing it from my blogroll and never linking again. The last time this happened was the last of Chris Ryan's now tiresome screeds essentially opining that all baby boomers should be lined up and shot. It's just another example of how you don't have to be a wingnut to be a dickhead.
Similar sentiments from so-called progressives from the comments over at Salon:
Hey Kev, you're a lardass and it's not the world's fault. Hire a semi to haul your fatness around. And spare the rest of us having to sit next to you and next to you and next to you.
They should travel by ox cart or something. I mean really. Do they need to inflict their smelly fatness on everyone else?
I've been next to fat slobs on airplanes and it's not fair. They are in your space and totally oblivious to it. If you are in halfway decent shape, then you couldn't possibly need "all that" space, now could you?
If I were dictator I would demand they be harvested for their fat, Tyler Durden like. All that fat is energy and can be turned into clean diesel.
Kevin Smith and Kate Harding cheek by jowl in coach on a trans-Pacific nonstop. I would love to see these walking externalities get a load of their own medicine.
Sorry, I don't want someone's fat touching me. It's just nasty, and in many cases there are some hygiene issues too.
I don't want someone else rubbing up against me, and if people can't fit in a seat without rubbing (or blobbing onto) the person next to them, then they need 2 seats. Airlines should make it easier for the Obese to purchase 2 seats, but it has to be done.
10 bucks says that last guy spreads his legs out when he's on a plane or bus.
It's interesting, though, to see that the kind of sheer hatred you see spewed in so-called progressive corners every time someone fat wants to be treated like a human being. You see the kind of language that if a wingnut used it against someone who's black, or disabled, or -- dare I say it -- RETARDED -- we would be screaming bloody murder. But it's perfectly OK for these same progressives to tar everyone who is their idea of overweight with the same kind of stereotypical broad brush that they'd be appalled to hear their friends use when talking about anyone else.
Wingnuts may have a higher douchebag quotient than we do, but we have our share too.
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