Hey everyone-I know it's early, but i couldn't wait to post this info...I heard on the radio tonight while I was driving home that Southwest Airlines(an American carrier) is going to start charging obese people for two seats in coach if they can't fit comfortably in one seat. unbelievable. First, i want to know how they are going to know ahead of time who to charge. Are they going to start asking for height and weight when you make your reservation? Or are they oging to come down the aisle and ask for your credit card if you hang over??!!! Secondly, i want to confirm that this is true. And lastly, what do other people think of this? there were people calling in to the station saying that they had been overweight, and had lost weight, and agreed with this policy!
I think they should space the seats further apart!

That definitely kind of sucks. Look out for a lawsuit, I'd bet. I guess if they space the seats further apart then they can't fit as many passengers, so ticket prices will go up. On the other hand, it seems like making the seats bigger would somehow be validating obesity as the norm, which is no good either, since it's not healthy. Having to pay for two seats might be enough to spur some people into finally losing weight. But it would be a horrible way to do it. I think I would just die if I had to pay for a second seat. There's got to be a better way--maybe a few extra large seats on each plane that you can request in advance if you think you might not fit. Guess we'll see.

Cat

I saw your post, and found another article on it:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...southwest_dc_1

I don't know what I think about it - money-wise, the airlines should not be forced to make the seats bigger - maybe as a courtesy they can, and hope to gain more passengers, but really, who wants anything but the absolute cheapest flight anymore. Making the seats larger and the planes have a smaller capacity would not mean that passengers are being charged the lowest possible price (safely!)

But ethically - should a person, just because they are larger, be forced to pay more? the article says that less than 1% of people actually have this problem - I'd hate to be in that 1% if I were flying, being made more aware of it, etc...

Actually, not being mean, not being cruel, and fully aware that I will probably make someone, somewhere mad, but money-wise, I think the airlines are justified in charging more. Cat - maybe the airplanes should have a few larger seats - BUT charge more for them to make it fair to all passengers (otherwise who woudln't want a larger seat!!) actually - that's first class seating minus the perks...

But then again, apply this standard to everything: What about movie theaters? Same problem applies - should a person have to buy 2 tickets to a sold-out show if they take up 2 seats? and buses? and trains?

I absolutely disagree with Southwest airlines. I think it is absurd. First of all, obesity is not an easy thing to overcome. People who have had heroin addictions and lost weight say that losing weight was harder than kicking their heroin addition. You can't say - We'll these people shopuld lose weight anyway. We all know here how hard it is to lose weight. We're lucky because we've made commitments and have this support... but also because we're young... we're in our 20's and can do this... we might be doing this... but it has taken me 15 years to get to the point in my life where I could do this. And while I don't want to say obese people are handicapped, it's definately a handicap in some cases. Places make accomodations for physically handicapped people. Maybe the airline should have 2 rows of larger seats. The rest of the plane would be regular sized. These larger seats could be useful to a variety of people. Maybe a mother with a child, maybe someone is 6'6", maybe a handicapped person who could use the extra space, and maybe larger people. Maybe these seats could be $50 more or something. for the whole trip - but not another ticket. There is already too much weight discrimination in the world... we shouldn't condone more of it. I've seen it all first hand. Going from 220 to 140 I've seen how differently I'm treated now. Not just by boys... but by stragers, retailers, waiters. I never felt sorry for myself about it. I knew there was something I could do about it. But it's not right for people to treat someone differently for race, religion, sexuality, or size. It makes me sick. Why is someone better because they are smaller. There aer plenty of healthy overweight people. I know people might disagree... but it's been studied and studied, but the reason most overweight people are so unhealthy is because most of the time, people are overweight because they eat unhealthy foods and don't get enough exercise. But there are people out there who are up and moving more than their skinnier counterpart. There are people out there eating healthily and still larger. It's all about what you eat and how much you exercise... and that doesn't always come across in a person's size. I did hear about this... and I just can't believe it. I hope people to sue. This is discrimination and it's wrong.

Wow - sorry, I just kind of got on a roll.



Well, I went on my cruise last night and some fun stuff happened, sort of. I liked one boy, but ened up talking with his friend most of the night, and I totally regret it because I really liked the first boy.

This guy Sean comes up and starts talking to me and my roommate. I had a feeling he was actually going for my roommate, so I stayed in the conversation, but turned to his friend and started talking. His friend was nice, so it wasn't so bad. But later, I found out that Sean was actally comign to talk to me - but it was too late because his friend was already interested in me by the time I found out. I'm TOTALLY bummed because Sean is awesome. He's got this great sense of humur, he's SO CUTE, nice, smart, likes hockey - basically perfect. But I lost my chance beause I started talking to his friend, and his friend got my number. Sean told my friend that he was the one interested in me, but he can't do that to his friend now. I'm bumming. It's really not often that I really like a guy and he actually likes me back. And so I'm regretting every move I made, because if I was't so consumed with these self-esteem-he-must-be-interested-in-my-roommate thoughts I could have met a really great guy.

But the story goes on... we met Sean and Jay on the cruise. We all had great conversation. The cruise ended - and they talked us into going to a bar after. We went. I was talking with Jay who was buying me a drink. And this other guy came up and asked me to dance. I said no, and he grabbed my waste and said "COme on." So Jay tells him to back off. They started screaming and pushing and I was afraid they were going to fight until a bouncer told them to chill. But it was the first time boys "fought" over me. It was actually kind of fun. So now that Jay backed me up - I definately can't go for Sean. And it sucks.

Of course Jay got my number, but they never call anyway.... so he might not even call. When we were leaving, Sean said "we really all have to hang out again. You girls are cool." So I'm hoping we'll all hang out again. Who knows... like I said - they never call, so I won't expect it.

SORRY for the long email!

Cat, Star, Lori - good topic of conversation. It will be interesting to see what our fellow posters think. I respect everyones opinions, I just feel like it's discrimination.

Lori - did you look up the bakery? You HAVE TO!

Lisa

I don't have a lot of time, and I still have not been able to go back and catch up on what is going on with everyone, so bear with me.

Lisa - Hopefully you will be able to hang out with Sean and Jay in a group and let Sean know you are interested. Just because Jay got your number doesn't mean you can't talk to Sean. Life is too short to not go for what you want! You certainly don't owe Jay anything at this point, even if he did almost get in a fight over you! I say stick to group activities and don't do anything with Jay alone so you don't give Sean the impression that you are interested in Jay.

As far as the airline issue, you all may get mad at me for saying this, but I think the airlines need to do something. Maybe charging extra isn't the best solution, but you have to remember that they are most concerned with their bottom line, and charging those few obese passengers more money is the easiest way out for them. Yes, the better decision would be to make seats bigger or create an extra section for larger people, but that would result in prices going up for all of us, and that is not the best business decision for the airline. I do believe that this is a terrible thing for them to do, but from an uniased business perspective, I don't think they have much of a choice. And as someone that has had to sit next to someone that took up a good part of my seat on long flights in the past, I can honestly say that I shouldn't have to be uncomfortable and "share" my seat with someone that overfills theirs. Just my opinion.... This should make for a very interesting discussion!

So, I have another date tomorrow night with the boy (not sure how I should refer to him at this point!) He is in Atlanta for the week and isn't coming home until tonight, so he left it up to me to plan the evening! I'm not very good at being the planner, so it should be a challenge for me! Plus, I am going with a group of my friends to Summerfest in Milwaukee next Sunday to see Tom Petty and I asked him if he wanted to go and he said yes! So, we already have plans for next weekend too!

I'll be back after I get a bit of work done...

Jen - thats awesome advice about the boys.Thanks. And I do see your point. Actually I sat next to a very large man on a recent flight and it was very uncomfortable for me. More so because he was rude too. When I had to go to the bathroom, he wouldn't get up and it was nearly impossible to climb over him... I was very upset. But where do airlines draw the line when it comes to comfort. An overweight person spills over to your seat... what about a mother with a new baby who can't stop crying... can they ban kids. What about sitting next to someone who doesn't smell so great, or the 6'6" guy sitting behind you with his knees in the seat, or the person in front of that guy who puts their seat back... all of these things make peoples' flights uncomfortable... and I totally see what you're saying... I've been there too... but there are so many things that can annoy/discomfort passengers and I just wonder where they make the distinction between making sure everyone's comfortable and making sure everyone is treated fairly. It's a tough, and hot topic... it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

Hello Ladies -

Thread sure is quiet today.

Re Southwest: I am declaring myself Switzerland. So far, I find myself agreeing with every opinion expressed.

Jen - I think I'm going to take your advice on boys too. I've spent 2 months not approaching a guy I like because he's the best friend of a guy who likes me that I'm not interested in. Tomorrow night, I'm totally going to chat him up. I think you should keep referring to your date as the boy. Well, acutually, you should refer to him as THE BOY (lots more inflection in that). Glad it is going so well.

Lisa - I think we're living parellel lives. The guy I like is also named Sean! Weird. It's great that you had a good time on the cruise. I really hope that those guys call and you can hang out again.

Tomorrow I'm going on a pub crawl. Now I know pub crawls aren't that uncommon, but this is a huge (100+ people), 14 pubs in 12 hours, semi-annual pub crawl that even has its own web page. I know just enough people to be comfortable but there will still be plenty of new people to meet.

Back to work for me.

Winter