What The Hell Is Up With That?

So I was reading on-line the other day how Kevin Smith (of Jay and Silent Bob’s fame) was kicked off a flight for being… well - fat.  Hmmm, I thought to myself this would make great fodder for my next article or a great topic for my blog.

I could state my belief then turn it over to you the reader to voice your opinion, if even over your own kitchen table.  But I decided it was too touchy of a topic to rail on about.  After all it’s a form of discrimination to make a person purchase a second seat there by doubling their expenses to fly.  So how could I tip toe around that?  You can’t, so that’s why I decided not to write about the subject.  It would just create ill will because there would be those who would whole heartily agree with me and those that would pose their vehement opposition.  Kind of like when I wrote my column a few years back on handicap parking - it seemed cut and dry to me.  If you’re able to run from the car into the store you probably shouldn’t be using a handicap spot.  For me there was no gray area , just black & white.  But some of you believed that it was okay to park in a handicap spot.  Some of you felt there was more than one kind of handicap and I was generalizing.  I can accept that.  I don’t agree with you and I think you missed my point, but lets not drudge it up again.  As long we agree that I was right you so were you… if you agreed with me.

But I have to say the temptation was great to tell the story and then pontificate as to how to resolve it.  At first I thought I could take a smart ass approach and say that the bigger flyer should pay part of the persons seat that they are sitting next to.  If Franky Fat Ass is infringing 20 percent into the seat next to him then he should have to pay 20 percent of that passengers fare.  But that’s crazy all together now isn’t it, seriously how would you determine that?  It’s impossible, so I can’t write about it because I would sound down right mean that we start handing out fines for not putting the Twinkies box down.  People could actually throw it in my face that I used to be a “purchase two seat candidate” not too long ago and how would I feel.  My hand would then be forced; I would have to tell them that I suffered greatly when flying especially when there was someone next to me.  I would have to tell them of the embarrassment I felt because I couldn’t tuck myself out of the way.  I would have to fess up to the anxiety I felt and the anger I would have toward myself.  And frankly I’m not willing to do that, which is why I choose to leave the topic alone and let somebody else write about it.

I was pleased with my decision.  Because I was really torn, part of me says that if you take up two seats then you pay for two seats.  But the other part of me (the fat guy in recovery) couldn’t help but imagine the humiliation that Kevin Smith or anyone else must have felt being removed from the plane and forced to purchase a second ticket.  Stop and think about that for a second, what that must have felt like.  Maybe not so much for Kevin Smith who makes his living being a chubby guy that never says anything, but what about the guy that’s trying to get home and can’t afford the second plane ticket!  What an incredible slap in the face, the horror a person must feel when they realize why they were taken off the flight.  It for those reasons I couldn’t discuss it today.

See - I’m, as mother used to say - a smart mouth (for record what she called me couldn’t be printed, so just work with me).  For me not to infuse my sarcastic tones would have been impossible and would have certainly painted me a buffoon.  And because I’m not a buffoon I decided not to say something like: if you if you only take up half the seat is it half price?  Or - this is a new diet fade; the money the airline takes from you leaves you with less money to spend on food, there by reducing future travel costs.

My final decision was to not to write about this very sensitive topic.  Because after all the only things airline are good for… breaking golf clubs!  What the hell is up with that?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 9:35 pm and is filed under Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.