After seeing that a couple blogs I read posted about United's new fat-flyer policy, I thought I'd scroll down and read the comments.
I had no idea there was still so much virulent hatred of fat people in this country. I know that the comment section of the blogs I read are not a good cross-sampling of the population, but the sheer volume of people who felt the need to speak up and give their "I had to sit next to a lard ass one time on an airplane" stories were staggering. Also, the perception that every fat person you see is a slobbering pig is still prevalent, evidentially. Strangely, there was little-to-no outrage at the airlines for continuing to make seats smaller and closer together over the years.
I should mention that I agree that if you take up two seats you should pay for two tickets. Southwest's armrest policy on this matter seems to make sense to me. United's is a little oddly worded.
The main complaint seems to be that if you sit next to a fat person, you will have an uncomfortable and unpleasant flight. I assume this is mainly due to infringing on personal space. I might be okay with charging fat people extra if you could charge people for hogging the armrest, eating smelly things, spraying smelly things on themselves (and often others), elbowing their neighbors every time they move, demanding a window seat and getting up to pee 30 times, and/or just being a douche in someone else's general direction. If all that were fineable, I might be okay with it.
The best part is, it's up to the flight-attendant's discretion. Would you bet, within 5 years we'll hear a news story that a flight attendant tried to charge a pregnant woman for 2 seats? Well, maybe not. You're not supposed to fly in the third trimester anyways, right?
All of these people think that getting thin is as easy as hopping on a treadmill. And why EVERYONE hasn't done so yet is beyond their comprehension. Just in case one of those people ever happen to read this: It's not that easy, and YOU are one of the reasons why.
I'm not blaming it on them, far from it - my size is my issue and I will deal with it on my own terms - but they are not innocent. It might be as easy as hopping on a treadmill if I didn't have all of these mental issues from people saying horrible things about fat people. If my childhood wasn't a constant stream of people commenting on my weight, I might have dealt with it long ago. In fact, the only thing that happened when people teased, poked, made fun, or otherwise commented upon my size (even in an honestly helpful manner) was that I shelled up and wanted to think about anything BUT my weight. Losing weight, for me and for many people, brings up so many negative connotations that it's just not worth it.
Maybe if I got a few less stares and snickers when I went to the gym, I'd be more likely to hang out there.
Normally, I don't let things like that bother me. I don't see the staring in the locker room & I don't hear the groans as I waddle onto the airplane. Instead of letting people tease me, I spent a couple of years in my childhood developing what experts like to call a "personality" and a "sense of humor." It made me more friends than a fat guy probably should have had. But this has all knocked me off my defenses and left me feeling vulnerable - and I'm already a little out-of-sorts lately, so you all get to hear me whine about it. Not that anyone is still reading.
Now, I've lost a considerable amount of weight in the past couple years for various health and personal reasons. I could give you a ballpark number of pounds, but I don't really care. This makes me wish I could gain them all back. I know that sitting next to me on a plane isn't always the most pleasant thing, but I take strides to stay on my side of the armrest. If someone gets jammed into the middle seat next to me on the plane, I usually offer to buy them a drink. It's a convenient mixture of manners and shame.
But mostly, I enjoy being who I am. It's been a long time since I've been self-conscious about my weight (at least at these teenage-girl levels.) I just can't believe some of those hateful things that I read. People who, in one breath, would chastise you for using the word "gay" or "retard" in ANY manner, seemed to utter a resounding "lard-ass" with the next breath. It's hateful, and I'm a little scared.
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