In 2010, jorts spokesperson Kevin Smith was booted off a Southwest flight for being too “fat.” He live-tweeted the entire embarrassing experience, writing, “Wanna tell me I’m too wide for the sky? Totally cool. But fair warning, folks: IF YOU LOOK LIKE ME, YOU MAY BE EJECTED FROM [SOUTHWEST].”
Were it up to Julia Stephenson, Smith would be able to fly.
But only if he was charged more.
The Daily Mail writer claims that as “a slim person of 8 st” (112 pounds), she’s often the “wafer-thin filling in a human sandwich,” like the time she “sat next to a woman so enormous I was told to move to a seat behind. I was happy to oblige. But it meant she paid for one seat and got two.” Her solution:
So it’s little wonder that I find myself agreeing with chief medical officer Professor Dame Sally Davies’s recent suggestion of charging fatties more to fly. She argues that, in the age of the supersize traveller, our total weight (passenger and luggage) should be taken into account at check-in. I couldn’t agree more. (Via)
Stephenson was “made to pay excess baggage costs because my case was a fraction over the allowance,” so, naturally, it was the fault of the overweight woman sitting behind her, who “paid nothing extra because she had a smaller suitcase.” Stephenson doesn’t want to sound severe — “as a skinny person,” she smugly claims, “I’m often subject to cruel remarks,” which totally happened to her this one time when was nine — but “this is pure economics. More weight on-board means aircraft need to take on more fuel. So airlines shouldn’t be criticized for charging by the pound.” Her “friend” agrees.
My friend, Joyce, 49, an air stewardess for an American airline, doesn’t mince her words. “Passengers are getting so fat, we’ll soon be able to give up using tray tables and they can just use their stomachs,” she grumbles. (Via)
Joyce later said, “If you’re worried about being smothered, bring a couple of hard A4 folders. Wedge them against the arm rest and you have a magic flab barrier.” Joyce (she’s the real fat-shaming disaster), Stephenson, and Nicole Arbour should get together and have a piece of cake, or something.
Also, to find a way to charge babies for screaming. I’m for that.
(Via the Daily Mail)